A Manufactured Reality
by Jordan Ray
Summary: After experiencing Doki Doki Literature Club for the 5th time, the end letter by Monika has changed. (Any feedback is appreciated; let me know if you want more)
1. Awestruck

A manufactured reality

 **Prologue: Just a dumb anime game…**

"I don't want to play it. It looks boring and it's…it's anime." I humbly explained to an eager friend over a rather heated smartphone. He had been trying to convince me for the past hour now that I should play this dating novel. "Look, can we move over to Steam. My parents will kill me if I go over the contract limit." Hanging up, I sighed. Why was he so eager for me to play this game? Practically throwing the scratched phone onto my messy and unclean bed, I reached for the excuse I called headphones and switched my computer off sleep mode. Instantly I began to receive message after message.

[Just play it. I don't want to give anything away but you will have to believe me that it is good.] He just won't stop will he.

[I'll do it on one condition. That you buy me something in the winter sale, k?] That will throw him off. Heck he might stop messaging me about this stupid Doki Doki thing.

[Okay sure. You are gonna love this game.] I sat back. Well, a deal is a deal. I sat back and thought for a moment. The subtle flickering of my bulb sent me back to my reality. I headed to the store page to download "Doki Doki Literature Club".

 **Chapter 1: Awestruck**

"Can you hear me?"

"YES MONIKA" I desperately called out to her, tears rushing down my face. She was trapped and alone. Every time I had taken a break I had tortured her. I stopped for a minute to calm down, letting the familiar song fill my ears once more. Glancing at steam I realised my friend had tried to contact me for several hours now.

[DUDE. HAVE YOU FINISHED IT? HELLO? MR LOST IN LOVE? ANYONE] The creaking of my chair suddenly brought me back to my room, away from her...

The familiar end letter once again greeted me. At last, after finishing it for the 5th time "With everlasting love, Monika"

"P.S" Wait...was that there before? After finishing the letter I had never noticed a P.S in it. The bulb continued to flicker but I was so spaced out even that couldn't send me to reality. Is this an Easter egg? I continued to read:

 **"Come find me"**


	2. A Place and a Time

A manufactured reality

 **Chapter 2: A place and a time**

I leaned back, bewildered. What was this? This couldn't be a prank could it? No, I clicked the download link on steam, why would it be different?

A sudden sound came from the side of my bed. I panicked, before realising it was an alarm clock. Did going through the game that many times take all night? I suddenly noticed how tired I was. Glancing into a mirror sitting next to the door, I noticed that large dark rings had formed around the bottom of my eyes. I glanced at the date, "Saturday". That was enough to satisfy me before I collapsed to the bed, my last waking thoughts of that elegant face and those emerald orbs in her eyes.

* * *

A bright light. Was it a monitor? Was it a welcome to death? At this point, it could be a fictional character in a video game that I had grown passionate about. A flash, showed an old, broken and deserted train-yard. A warehouse, containing monitors and stacks for storage units. Bright, flashing, blue lights. A girl. She was about college age height, her hair flowed wistfully and elegantly, as though it was a living part of her. A school uniform, consisting of a muddy brown juxtaposed by a white school shirt and red bow. A short blue skirt, flowing through her passionate stepping, approaching a wall of monitors. She glanced behind her, those emerald eye-

I jerked up, wide eyed and awake. My monitor still glared at me with the letter. Had something changed? The "Come" had changed, blue and underlined. As I tried to wake up, my brain attempted to make sense of the sudden change. Wait, was it a

"HYPERLINK!" I cried with a sudden outburst, receiving several responses from the neighbours that were less than inappropriate for someone aged 60. Glancing one again at my alarm clock, I finally noticed that it was 1am. No wonder I received so many "Shut the fuck up" comments from other side of those walls. Filled to the brim with anticipation, I clicked the link, a sudden sweat had started to accumulate at the brim of my forehead. My heart started to speed up. Where was this going to take me?

 **"8pm, Eastern Railway Train yard, bring a screwdriver and a knife. Your USB drive with her on it will not be needed. See you soon"**


	3. A dark forest

A manufactured reality

 **Chapter 3: A dark forest**

The engine fell silent. The musty seats and unclean floors could have been detected from a mile away. With a click the handbrake was yanked up and the gear wobbled into neutral. A rattling of keys was muffled as it was thrown into an old, worn bag, which was accompanied with a screwdriver and an aluminium knife tucked away into a neat leather pouch. The door burst open onto the extensive moonlight as the light swept across a nearby developing pond. Trees rustled with excitement as I carefully closed the rusty car door. As much as I hadn't seen any cars for the 10 minute journey, I didn't feel alone, and that was beginning to develop an uneasy feeling in my stomach. This coupled with the fact that a random hyperlink had told me to come here at night didn't really settle my adrenaline. In addition, I had to take my USB drive off the chain, the 134kb that made up her were no longer with me. I gulped. What if this was all just some joke, some way to get me to react on camera? I spied around the old car park, scanning for anything as little as the glimmer of a camera lens.

* * *

Availing to nothing, I began down the muddy disused path towards the old warehouse near the train-yard. As I walked through the thick green leaves attempting to barrier me, my mind wondered through the strange dream I was starting to recall. The old railway train-yard, the broken down warehouse. And inside, monitors and dancing blue lights. I also recalled the end, a girl. She reminded me of someone, though I was deeply struggling to recall details about her. It couldn't be her though, could it?

*SMACK*

In doing all this thinking, I had decided to walk directly into a tree. My head felt an instance surge of pain and my eyes became dizzy. My body's weight caused me to stumble and I tripped to the floor, landing on my back.

"Ow..." I groaned, unable to comprehend what had just happened.

"Hehe~" I bolted upright. What the hell was that?! A rustling in the bushes caused me back myself against the tree. My open palms turned into fists as I began to shake. The bushes continued to rustle. I took deep breaths, ready for anything. Survival instincts took over, and I rushed towards the bush, fists raised.

* * *

I sat back against the damp tree. It had started to peel away as the weaker area was exposed. I had sat down for five minutes recollecting myself after I realised the evil that had surged to the bush had been a crow, which had been looking through the bush for seemingly food. If anyone was around I must've looked like some sort of crazy idiot. Not that there was anyone...right? I pushed myself to my feet and continued.

"So you decided to come, did you~?" A large whisper in my right ear. I jerked my head around, to see only shadows and darkness, and the occasional leaf falling down below. This forest was beginning to freak me out.

"Y'know, it was kind of amusing back there with the bush and the crow hehe~" A whisper in my left ear. I began to familiarise myself with the voice, it seemed to be from a female of sorts. No way this could be who I thought it was.

"I haven't seen something like that for years, y'know. Being all alone, you begin to forget." I surged onwards, towards the warehouse. I seemed to be getting closer and closer to this disembodied, female voice. The pitch was soft and gentle and she seemed to speak with the uttermost excitement and mystery. There is no fucking way it could be her.

"Forget about life. And death. Especially when you have been alive for just too long hehe~" The voice became clearer, turning from a faint whisper to a rather moderate tone. I had begun to relax a little after hearing this perfect voice. This sweet, innocent voice, seemingly frustrated but maintaining her composition in tone. I knew the feeling.

 **"Come see me"**


	4. The Warehouse

A manufactured reality

 **Chapter 4: The Warehouse**

The crunch of sticks echoed through the misty forest, its dark leaves waved in the murky shadows. Pebbles and rocks were tossed aside by a cautious foot, the thick leather pushing them aside like some deformed boulder, an out of control force pushing it forward, not matter where it would end and unable to do anything to stop itself.

Unlike me.

Curiosity flowed through my veins directly into the boots. Every snap of a twig or crunch of a pile of leaves led me one step closer to the voice. My mind was now totally focused on not just hitting another tree but also on the miserable, disowned building, which windows were cracked and smashed into remains that lay beneath them. Around the excuse for a building was a rusty fence. Barbed wire lined the top, making it unable to be climbed.

I had circled the perimeter twice now. No sign of entry.

"Hey! Disembodied voice! Any help?" My calls echoed through the forest. I must have looked like a patient from an asylum at this point. Attacking bushes, calling out to voices that I probably created in my own mind to sooth myself. What next? Conversing with someone after they had just witnessed everything?

"Hehe~" Wait, again? That's it I need answers.

"Can you please answer me? If you are so keen to meet, it would be a really great help if you could get me through this thick barbed wire that is impossible to climb through without...a knife." Wait my knife! The weak spot, on the western side, of course! I quickly made my way towards the corresponding side and drew my blade, the satisfying movement of air accompanying its movement. The gate had been tied down by some sort of weak, thin metal line, an attempt at locking away all of the secrets within the compound. It was no match for the aluminium blade, as I sliced through with one smooth movement. The fence sprang open, almost catching me on the side of my cheek. Narrowly missing "certain death" I crawled through the now open entrance that had been made, and took my first step into the abandoned complex.

* * *

I heaved the garage door open, unlocked weirdly though no sign of a lock lying on the floor from some sort of entry. I didn't really know what I was expecting, but it was not even along the lines of my expectations. I gently lifted the door to the top of the frame.

"Wow"

...were my first words. I was completely taken into shock and amazement. The walls were lined with bright flashing blue lights, which originated from several memory storage units. There must at least have been 50 lined across the walls and in the centre, leaving just enough space for human access. Several cables lined the floor all leading towards the back of the warehouse. It reminded me of some Sci-fi movies. Towards the back, flickered monitors showed critical data, changing CPU cooling temperatures, graphs diverged up and down, their path not chosen but instead encouraged by the rapid code onscreen. Lines were added by the server stacks themselves as the frequent code was constantly expanding. The server stacks were adding or building something. At first I wasn't sure what, but then-

 **"So, you have finally found me..."**


	5. The Girl With The Emerald Eyes

A manufactured reality

 **Chapter 5: The Girl With The Emerald Eyes**

It had been so long since I had heard back from him. Steam still displayed him playing "Doki Doki Literature Club" and it had been a solid eighteen hours now. I moved my hands to the dusty keyboard:

[Dude, can you please stop fooling around. You can't have been playing for that long!] I didn't really expect an answer, judging by how about a hundred messages had been send to his account by now. My seat lightly creaked as I leaned back, giving up.

[Monika is typing] Wait, who is Monika! Did he seriously get so hooked on the game he added someone to the chat called Monika? That is about as sad as I was during my phase of addiction.

[Your friend is currently unavailable.] What? Why would this person type something so voodoo and weird? I quickly responded:

[Hey, who are you? And what do you mean he is unavailable? Is this some kind of prank?] I started to feel a small amount of unease, surely this was just some joke and soon they were gonna ask for my credit card or something to "Unlock a special access to Monika" before taking every cent out of my account, right?

[Your friend is currently unavailable.] A copy and paste to make me feel scared, really? Yet, I still couldn't shake this feeling of tension as I timidly responded once again:

[I am going to ask again, who the hell are you and what do you mean he is unavailable?]

[Monika is typing]

[Monika is typing]

Oh come on! For fucks sake, respond already!

10 minuts have past:

[Monika is typing]

Still no response from this weird scammer or something? Who the hell do she/he think they are?

[Monika is typing]

I leaned back once more, a bark welcoming me as I moved my hands to the side of the chair. A snuffling of a nose against my fingers, I turned my head and looked to see my Yorkshire Terrier smiling at me gladly with an occasional voice to his opinion on the matter.

Bark

[Monika is typing]

I gently bent down to pet him, my eyes leaving the screen.

"Are you hungry?" He barked and scattered away towards his dish. I plodded over the fake wood floors into the dimly lit kitchen, my slippers occasionally slipping across the surface. A knife and a plate lay on the counter, along with some wet dog food and a rusty can opener.

[Your friend is currently unavailable.]

I quickly opened the can and poured out several pieces of wet food, which scattered as though attracted by magnets into the dish, making a satisfying slap as they hit the surface. He immediately began to tuck into the melancholy meal, as though he hadn't eaten in forever.

[He is with me.]

I decided to put the knife in its intended place, a sheath made of oak lay across on the other counter, housing other cutting knives. The plate I had laid down was for when the mistress had arrived back from a meeting with her colleagues, it coincidentally laying next to a microwave in which to heat it up.

[I am trapped but he will free me.]

I leaned back against the spotless counter, a wipe down removing all dust from the surface till evening. Caressing the ring, my thoughts set upon her, with her joyful smile and chocolate-coloured eyes.

[And then you will see me and him.]

I brought myself back towards the study, loose papers littered the room as a subtle honk of a car reminded me of the homes' outer surroundings. Pictures lay among the desk with the rather fancy computer, the glass exposing the motherboard and graphics card. It smiled with a green glow before changing to a rather evil red.

[But only, only if he gets me out alive.]

I quickly slumped back into the seat, and looked. And the face of Monika was looking right back at me, before I was graced with the special message "Your PC ran into a problem that it couldn't handle, and now needs to restart.  
Error: 0J000010000U110000011S001111100T0000101000010M0000101100E

* * *

The warehouse contained only two other rooms and another exit, locked and sealed. I approached the monitors with the curiosity of a cat onto a mouse, as the wind howled through the broken windows lining the ceiling. The last monitor appeared to be monitoring something, a heartbeat sensor tracking pulse rates as well as stress and anger levels. What was it tracking though? A person inside the complex? I hadn't heard a single sound from inside since I heaved open the red door blocking the way-

"What are you waiting for? Hehe~" I hesitated as I listened to the sweet calm voice. She seemed to have grown in excitement ever since I had heard her voice last. She was waiting in anticipation. I then, noticing an ominous blue glow, glared at another doorway a couple of paces from the centre of the echo filled hallway. It was filled in life in terms of machine noises and an occasional move of a long mechanical arm, which expanded and implanted something before retracting to its original position. It did this inconsistently and a non repetitive pace. Leaning back, I slowly made my way to the room, each footstep building some kind of anticipation within my brain, an uneasy feeling began to develop in my stomach, but I felt safe, as though the feelings were fake and I was being forced away. I strayed closer to the door-way, the door was knocked off the hinges long ago and I saw remains of what looked like a gate, but that was also non existent. The tension drew stronger within my own brain, as I took my final step into the room. The machines stopped, frozen to their original place. The facility went eerily silent as my foot echoed through the room. And there, levitating above a shimmering blue pad was...

" **Monika!"**


	6. Just Monika

A manufactured reality

 **Chapter 6: Just Monika**

"Sir, one of the silent alarms has been tripped on sight 1. Cameras caught a darkly dressed figure with a black rucksack head into the complex. Do you think she has finally initiated?"

"I mean, she did warn us that the 1,000,000 player would find her unless we let her-"

"Silence, both of you..." The suited figure lounged in the spotless leather, glancing out of the clear window into the bright light's of the city. The office in which he was contained in contained a thick wood desk and a simplistic, white laptop, connecting to a similar mouse to the right. On the edges of the desk lay four folders containing numerous reports of suspicious actions and consequences. They also contained a report on the figure. One of them was described to create fractures in a timeline, one was described as a subtle, yet dangerous assassin with even the bluntest of objects in her hand. One was believed to have shadowed her way into parties through her cheerful atmosphere and cute smile. And the last was believed to have run a cooking club, she was not known to have any of the symptoms but was carefully watched associating with the other three.

Around the room lay delicate glass-fronted cabinets, containing pictures and other delicate decorative valuables, a strange object contained within a glass container, which refracted each shape if you looked at the corner of the container. A fake, but believable, fire sizzled and crackled in the centre right of the room, vases and more pictures lining the shelf above it. The walls were occupied with various expensive pieces created by some of the most fine, well known artists in the world. To accompany the wooden floor, a soft, red rug comforted its below surface, which lay in front of the desk. On top of the rug lay two chairs, both occupied by two well dressed individuals. They were both slender and uncomfortable if you were to meet them, for you would fear they would follow you home soon after you left a party or a meeting depending on the circumstance. In addition, they were nervous, this recent upset had shaken them so much as to have to report to the boss himself.

"We have nothing to fear. Project Libitina will continue as necessary as long as we remain in control of the other three sights. In addition, I have already sent two trucks to the compromised location where they will dispose of the unwanted individual and cease the girl. We must maintain our current task at hand."

"But _he_ may want answers, catching them so easily for his game. How did the intruder even find the location?"

"Perhaps, it was the ga-"

The suited figure raised his finger, as the leather chair swivelled slowly to face the two men. He pulled the chair forward towards the wood desk and swiftly, but delicately, opened the folder. The first page showed a black and white photo of a rather tall girl, aged 19, medium height. Her chocolate hair, her composited body, her delicate smile. Her chuckled to himself before setting the folder to it's original position, the rare amount of dust waved away as the folder left his hand. It made a satisfying *clap* as he let go.

"Do not mention our contact. I will handle him. Just focus on the girl and Salvato will be handled."

The wax candles in the golden chandelier above his desk flickered with delight at the mention of his name.

"And the intruder?" One of the men timidly asked.

"He is disposable, he won't form much of a harm to us. Now go and earn the wages I pay you two. Make sure no one discovers any of this...inconvenience."

* * *

Monika hung lifelessly above the platform. She was dressed in similar attire to another girl who I was beginning to recall, dressed in red shorts, and a white buttoned shirt. Her feet were bare and they hung loosely about a metre from the ground. Her hair was, not tied up into bangs, but loosely floating to beneath her kneecaps. Her eyes were a dim green, as though she was dead. The mouth was arranged in a neutral expression, just to add to my already increasing worries. The room, only lit by the ominous pad, contained shadows lurking in the corners, out of site by the blue glow.

I was shocked. My brain froze. Was this...was this real? My mind pondered my brief encounter with the tree, but that couldn't cause all of this. I thought about every drink and meal I had in the past twenty four hours but it still arrived at no avail. Nothing that could cause me this much hallucination.

My mind adjusted and kicked back. My heartbeat started to race as I began to come to terms this was real, and this was Monika. The girl I was so desperate to meet, that I thought would never be here. She was here, and she needed me right now. I glanced to my left, a computer monitor housed various signs of life.

She was not dead.

I noticed wires connecting from the pad to the very terminal. I began frantically looking for some kind of nail which would allow me access. At last my hand closed on a nail on the tower which held the monitor up and, I assumed, housed all the inner connections.

The PC simply couldn't have an off button could it as I rushed my screwdriver out of my bag and starting rotating left.

"Righty tighty, lefty loosey, righty tighty, lefty loosey" I chanted underneath my breath as I quickly dispatched of all four nails which protected the innards of this volatile machine. At last I found the button on what seemed to be a power supply unit.

"Weird to have it inside the case" I mumbled as the whole room dropped to a black shadow, consuming me and the character I had grown to love so dearly. The slump of another body as it hit the pad confirmed she had been disconnected. Quickly pulling out my torch which I had brought preemptively. The body lay in a rather slumped position on the pad. I began to walk closer, and closer, and closer. I could at last see her face. She resembled the game equivalent entirely, her only change in the now messy hair drooping across the floor. Her chest moved, her mouth opened and she breathed in and out. She was still unconscious and showed no signs of waking up. I caressed her soft hair and I brought her up into two arms, her legs hung over my left arm while her head flopped across my right.

Wait, did I hear a truck of some kind?

* * *

 **Authors note: I want to thank all of you for reaching this far into the 6 chapters of this rather short fan-fiction, but(what I intend to make) long story inspired by Doki Doki Literature Club. I also want to thank the people who have taken the time to review and follow and whatever people do. This is my first ever proper "story" of types and I am glad that people are enjoying it. It truly does make me so happy as I do put quite a lot of effort into these chapters. As for the story, this chapter should open some doorways into future branches for how I wanted it to go. Originally, the plan was to find a way to end at the discovery of the warehouses secrets, but I think I'll go one step further. Excuse me if some dialogue comes off as 'cringy', this is my first fan fiction and 'story' which I have thought up a world for and I am still learning! Any review is appreciated and please point out any issues if you deem necessary for me to fix and I will!**

 **Thank you for enjoying and the next chapter will come soon.**

 **Kind regards -  
B4**


	7. Spread Out and Find Them

A manufactured reality

 **Chapter 7: "Spread out and find them"**

I pushed myself against the cold, concrete wall. Footsteps were emerging from the twisted echoes of the facility, the loud thump of the boots as they jogged towards our position. I didn't dare breath.

"Spread out and find them. We want the girl alive, but target as necessary. Safety's off gentlemen." To accompany, six very loud *clicks * followed the previous echoes.

I moved forward and pushed myself against a black crate with Monika resting in my arms. The crate was sturdy and heavy, and could hide both the two of us behind it. I glanced over. A beam of light struck down our direction, narrowly missing my head as I ducked back down. Glancing to my left, I saw another room. A possible way out, maybe? The room was unlit, but seemed to create a breeze heading in. Another access to the outside. Staying crouched, I slowly made my way over, careful not to exhibit noises. Even the slightest pebble could give me away. I rushed quietly around the doorway.

"Search the rooms!"

Shit. I desperately looked for some kind window or a secret door, but to no avail. I was trapped and, potentially, about to be killed by some mercenary's. Not how I planned my Sunday night.

* * *

"But Mommy, he scares me!" The frightened little girl clutched her mums leg, desperate to stay. She was dressed in a grass-green dress, which were dotted with occasional sections of white. Her hair was separated by a white ribbon, which split the hair into two. She looked with horror at the man in front.

He held a gun to the mums head.

He was dressed in all black. Leather clothed his upper side while jeans covered his lower. He wore two, very well polished, leather shoes and a black hood from a hoodie sat below his jacket rested atop his head. In his leather gloved hand sat a P45, one round was missing in the magazine.

A trail of crimson red ran across the floor between the cold tiles. A leg in the other room showed a previous attempt at disarming the hooded figure, who had now wound up dead.

He was the father.

"It's okay sweetie, just..." the mother broke down, clearly traumatised by the event. She leaned down and clutched the child, as though silently begging for her not to leave. Salty tears ran down her bloodshot eyes and onto her pale cheeks.

"...just go with the nice man, okay?"She loosened her grip on the child, as to insist she went with this lethal assassin.

The mother stepped away.

"No mommy, I don't wanna go!" She tried to focus, to rewind the day. But the power was blocked, by some sort of unreasonable force. She couldn't reach into the fragment, because there was none.

And, with a struggle, she was lifted by the unseen stranger.

"Mummy! No, let go of me!" She desperately struggled, but to no avail.

"I love you." Those were the last words said to the poor child, before the door was slammed.

"Monika..."

* * *

"1...2...3!" The slab collapsed, the wall cracking and breaking. I had broke free of the complex, but not the cops.

"What the hell was that?!" An impending doom of footsteps immediately grew louder as they approached my position.

I ran.

The wind blew through her hair, making it fly over my shoulders as I ran. It felt good to feel fresh air once again, the computer stacks had made the room humid. But I didn't have time to stop. Finding the gap, I once again crawled through, pushing Monika through ahead of time.

"There he is!"

Shit! I once again took off at running pace as fast I my legs would take me. My arms brushed against the leaves as I almost stumbled on a root, quickly leaping at the last minute. A bullet shot into a tree beside me, the cracking of bark giving me a shock as I sped up towards the car. More bullets thudded into trees as I ran, I ducked my head and felt a bullet graze my hair. I couldn't hear the shots though.

"Silencers!" I cried among my frequent panting.

Meanwhile, the body that I was carrying as I ran was beginning to stir. Her eyelids began to flicker and muscles started to contract, her body started to heat up to a normal temperature from the icy temperature she was ,to the touch, earlier. Meanwhile, my body was running on overdrive as I avoided yet another stump trap, bullets grazing the bark below me.

I broke the treeline.

The car was not tampered with or showed signs of discovery, so I quickly pulled the keys out of my bag. They jangled as I, with shaking hands, desperately tried to fit them into the lock.

*click*

I practically threw the door open as I shoved the body on to the other musty seat.

"Come on...come on..." I muttered under my breath. The engine wouldn't start. I turned the key again. And again. And again.

"COME ON DAMMIT!" The engine roared to life as I turned the key. Another shot was heard as it struck the concrete, five inches from the tire. I threw the car into first gear, put my foot down onto the accelerator and sped off, my side door grazed the bushes as I turned onto the main road.

 **"Is that really you?"**


	8. A First Sunrise

A manufactured reality

 **Chapter 8: A First Sunrise**

I breathed a sigh of relief, reaching the motorway. The car engine hummed underneath the bonnet as we cruised along the slightly bumpy road. _She_ had been staring out of the window the entire time, her green orbs bouncing as she stared into reality. All the colours, fresh green leaves off of a handsome tree. Brown bark which had texture and feel to it. A newly awaken sunset began to peek over the horizon.

 _She_ never said a word.

I had been busy trying to calm down after our...hectic climax at the edge of the forest.

"I could've been shot, I could've been shot..." I repeated in my head over and over.

The sun was starting to fill the sky. A turnoff approached as I decided to take a stop for a moment, to calm down. We hit the traffic lights as they changed to green, which made _her_ smile all the more wider as we winded on a free road. Finally we broke the treeline. I stopped the car as the cylinders calmed and a clink of keys sounded as I pulled them out the hole.

I stepped out.

The view was incredible. I remembered taking my past crushes up here, only to be rejected soon after. The sunset lay directly in the middle of the view, the fields below all hailed it with brushes of the wind. To the South lay the city in which we were headed, the buildings glistened with a magnificent glow as the lights of the night disappeared in sync. To my left, or the South, lay the ocean, sparkling waters gently approaching the shore.

A click of another door.

I let the warmth sink into my face as I reflected on the previous events. This girl couldn't be her, could it?  
The men that shot at us, they wouldn't really kill us, right?  
And they weren't so desperate as to chase us, right?

I felt like this was much bigger than I had hoped, had I been to brave to rescue this girl?  
Maybe I should have just stayed at home and played through another time. After Story looked cool.

"I'm her y'know." I felt a hand on my shoulder. She was still wide eyed at the scene, unable to process this was happening, but still keeping her complexion.

"The message, the voices, it was...me."

Sobbing.

I turned to the girl, her face striking against the sun, her cheek lit up like an angel, her hair blew majestically in the wind. She had tied up her hair into a split, which reminded me of the lines of coding that brought me here. A single tear fell down her cheek as stared right into my soul, the delicate orbs dancing in the sunlight, free from the dark prison cell.

Another tear followed.

"To answer your question, it is really me." I responded with a gentle tone. She granted my words with a smile. And then a hug.

I pulled her closer into a tight embrace. Her body refused to part as to think I would leave her or try to get rid of her. Her sobbing was immense as she couldn't take all this wonderful new life that was before her. We hung there for at least five minutes before gently, and with reluctance, letting go.

I smiled.

She smiled.

"Let's go."

* * *

 **Authors Note: Apologies for the shorter chapter today. Did this one in kind of a rush, but I think it ends in an "okay" way anyway. Think of it more as a segway chapter to set up for something much bigger next time. Anyway, thanks for reading once again. We are nearing the end of the fanfic, but I will be posting a "series" if you will for this fanfic. Any reviews are appreciated as always, so don't be hesitant to say it was crap as long as you tell why!**

 **Thanks for reading  
** **B4**


	9. Home Sweet Home

A manufactured reality

 **Chapter 9: Home Sweet Home**

The door opened with a squeak, as the shadows emerged from the door. Switching the light on, I stepped through the door, the silent taste of the apartment awaited before me. _She_ soon followed, her footsteps slightly more cautious and lighter than the thump of my boots.

"I'll show you where you can sleep." Walking through the main porch "area" I led _her_ through the dining area, consisting of a small oak table, with two seats of the same quality, and a candle lying on top of the table, into the living room. A soft rug filled the middle of the room, a coffee table lying on top with two white leather sofa's surrounding it. Shelves were held across the walls, containing ornaments and pictures of me and my old, but now deceased, golden retriever. A TV screen lay on one of the walls in the direct centre, a thin layer of dust covering the screen.

"Here you are. I will just grab some blankets." I rushed out of the room towards the storage cupboard, grabbing an armful of thick duvets, blankets and a pillow. I quickly rushed back to see _she_ was inspecting the TV remote, gazing at it with wondering eyes.

I smiled.

"So, it's okay if you sleep here tonight?" I asked.

"It should be okay. I'm not really used to sleeping in a place like this." She spoke with a tinge of doubt as to question where she was sleeping. But I had no other options.

"Okay good. And what about something to eat? Are you hungry?" I proceeded, as you would with any guest staying for the night. My body was running on autopilot at this point, as dark rings had formed under both our eyes. Luckily work didn't start until Wednesday, and it was currently Monday midday.

"I'm fine. Just really tired." _She_ laughed awkwardly and started to set herself down on the leather sofa, snuggling into the thick duvets and blankets I had brought.

"Same. I'm gonna head to bed too. You can come into my room if you need anything. Just wake me up, okay?" With a nod, _she_ lied down.

"Oh and..." I glanced around to already see _her_ already fast asleep. Smiling I closed the blinds and the door. The room inside fell into darkness.

I switched all the other lights in the apartment and climbed into bed, my mind beginning to quietly slow down. My body then came to the realisation. I had a fictional game character in my very house, sleeping on my sofa, who resembled what I would consider the love of my life, who I had to rescue from an abandoned warehouse facility which was full of weird tech, and I had been shot at in trying to rescue her.

And with that, my mind wandered into a pit of unconsciousness and deep sleep.

* * *

 _Bright flashing lights. Blinding my eyes._

 _"Leave me alone, leave me alone!" I kicked and thrashed at the figure, trying to knock him away._

 _"I want daddy back!" I further kicked him with my legs. My legs struggled endlessly._

 _"I WANT DADDY BACK!"_

My body awoke with a shock, the living room around me was filled with whispers and deep shadows. My body trembled as I began to cry, rocking back and forth to try and comfort myself. I felt so alone. But maybe he would allow me company.

"Stop whispering." I whispered to myself. "Please stop."

* * *

A knock awoke me from a very deep slumber, as my body sat up from the comforts of the mattress. A small sob.

"C-can...can I sleep in here...w-with you?" _she_ was desperately trying to hold back a barrage of tears, indicated by the frequent sniffles.

I hesitated, before giving in.

"Y-yes...yes you can" I replied, feeling sorry. I shifted my body along to allow room for her to climb in. _She_ slowly and carefully climbed in and covered her body with the part of the duvet not being used. Sobbing was still heard and a shiver could now be felt along the duvet.

I may as well go all the way.

I shifted my body next to _her_ and reached into an embrace. She swiftly turned around, her eyes lighting up in the pitch black.

"O-oh sorry...it was just-" _she_ swiftly moved towards me and clutched me tightly, my body feeling slightly winded. I hesitated before reaching across and returning the favour.

"Don't let me go...please!" She sobbed into my shoulder, a slight feel of almost desperation in my ear as she retracted before snuggling into my arm.

 **"I won't let them hurt you."**


	10. Adjustments

A manufactured reality

 **Chapter 10: Adjustments**

A clock rung for 3 pm. The blank ceiling stared back with closed eyes as glanced to my right to find a girl clutching my arm as though it were to disappear, and cradling her left cheek into my shoulder. I sat back.

"Wow." I gently mumbled to myself. Right now, I could stay in this moment forever.

I listened to the soft breaths of my recent accomplice who still wore _her_ rather grim looking shirt and short, red shorts. They were deep and relaxed and almost thoughtful. _She_ had seemed to have let her hair loose again as it covered beneath the covers. _Her_ eyes were shut, so I was sadly not able to be trapped within a gaze of jewelled green.

The light from the outside world crawled in, failing to break through the darkened curtains I had pulled across to let us sleep a twelve hour period of being awake away.

 _Her_ breath stuttered, and at last _her_ eyes opened.

The shadows in the whole room almost seemed to shy away from the brilliant beacon of light that just filled the room as _she_ yawned adorably and stretched _her_ arms out.

"Hi."

"Hi."

We both gazed into the eyes of each other, our bodies mere inches away from each other.

"We gotta get up. You need a change of clothing..." I calmly said, wishing quite literally anything different than to get up.

"I don't think I should go out in public in these though..." _she_ replied, glancing down towards the faintly familiar clothes _she_ was wearing. They had reminded me of the sad demise of t5r4jou9i8 and the rope that tied around her neck. Best...best not to mention that to _her_.

"You can borrow something from here if you find anything you fancy in the wardrobe." _She_ instantly threw the covers over, dashed out into the cold darkness and, with a creak, opened the wardrobe. _She_ **hung** for a second before picking out a rather big black jumper and a set of blue jeans.

"Hey, don't look! I don't trust you that much yet hehe~" I turned around and stared at the shadows on the other side of the bedroom, careful not to glance over and embarrass _her._ Instead I reached over, grabbed my weathered watch and turned on the lamp.

A rustle of clothing continued before _M0nika_ finally shouted...

"Donḕ̷͈͖̻͉̜̱̲͛̅͊ͅ!"

I turned around to see she had changed into rather suiting, but oversized clothing. Still, she needed her own clothes if she planned to stay. Not that I had any objections to that...

* * *

We have a rather interesting mall nearby, it is very confusing to go around, full of one-way elevators and windy pathways through. Like an overly complicated highway intersection. So you could imagine _her_ face when she glanced upwards towards the bustling crowds, bombardment of lights and the lines of shops marked with "SALE" or "NEW". Adding to the experience was the smells, the sounds, the touches. You could tell when _she_ had discovered something new because 1). _She_ stopped 2). _Her_ eyes lit up with an unseen glow of amazement.

This led to rather problematic elevator rides at times...

Even the "clacking" of heels on the rather loud floor took the exploring _girl_ by shock as we headed through another winding ramp that almost wrapped itself around the elevator. We were heading for the shop level.

* * *

We had spent about thirty minutes glancing around when _she_ finally saw it. I suddenly was plunged into darkness by two hands.

"H-hey!" I heard a short giggle before being led to a couch and pushed on.

The next thing I knew as I recovered was the gentle click of a changing room lock. So I patiently waited for the _girl_ to unlock the door and show me the clothes she had chosen. The lock clicked again.

 **"Wow..."**


	11. A New Look

A manufactured reality

 **Chapter 11: A New Look**

 _Monika_ stepped out the dressing room. Her golden hair was set in her signature style, tied neatly with her white bow. She wore an emerald dress which matched her eyes, and had added an extra layer, consisting of a pink thick jumper. She wore bright white socks which ran to her kneecaps, and finished off with some dark, black, non-heeled shoes which reminded me of school shoes.

I gazed in awe.

"So...do you like it?" Her first words brought me back from _reality._

"I...I" I had no words. She looked incredible.

 _She_ burst out into laughter, her golden locks shaking with every chuckle. _He_ r eyes were alight with delighted fire. A grin wouldn't be shaken from the edges of her cheeks. _S **h**_ **e s** tepped forward, the dress swirling around her lower knees, as if she was about to take off.

"You...you look incredible..." A bright red blossomed across her cheeks. She smiled and laughed. I just stared.

"Come on, let's pay for this stuff!" I was whipped back through another **rea1i _ty as M0n1ka stepped away carrying the tags and started to almost_** _run towards the cash registers._

 _"C0me on hehe~"_ I started to feel dizzy. Her words were echoing slowly, the individual syllables rattling along inside my brain until they began to grow. My legs became paralysed as I slumped to the floor, gasping for air. My lungs felt like they would explode, they wouldn't filter out.

"He1lplpzpkoj20j9fj92j9jnr92j2i0" I croaked slowly. A mind was taking over. My brain felt pushed. I was being slapped. I was being pun30u429nnaam. I have no con9ih829e191n19.

He0109701nland9oq

ampd10-0m1dpomdpo1mod1mpdn19dm]1qmp1nm[1kmo[mspoamdpanmpdnm1-k[pmfp4j309tj30nqpomd10-1ndsoaduoanb8d0dbkabndkadoiand9po2bknwin28ih2n1pn odno1in1oh09ondonapnoiadndoillllllanldanldnaph29h2809h1nfnapj02hbi98g189g9hfn919hjr81b98f1b8u1bff18bf89b18bf1bf8bf18b1f8b18b1bfb1

* * *

Everything was white.

"Hello er...actually no one reading this even knows your name. You haven't been defined yet." An entity desperately tried to remember his name. All I-91uno1nm091 he could see were words slowly appearing. They seemed to take pauses after every couple of seconds before resuming. One word said "to" and another said "They". Everything was slowly blurring. He struggled.

"There is no point in struggling, my friend. We are accomplices in this great ordeal, are we not?" The voice was beginning to materialise. He seemed to be dressed in a white suit.

"You see, you have just displaced the fragments of reality itself. In fact, you have made so much of a mess that we had to bring you up to **our** universe."

I-902u1n8o1 he strained to struggle out of his cell. His brain was trapped. The universe was expanding. The words were appearing faster "Universe", "trapped" "expanding".

"We have complete control of you now. And you have messed up so much, this is irreversible. However, this...this may work..."

"But I suppose you are sick of being undefined. The other, much higher beings don't even know your name. They are confused. I think that we should give you a name, don't you think so?"

 _Yes, we are eleven chapters in and you are a mystery. Just a bunch of words on a screen. Why don't you decide, audience? Let's give this variable_

" **a name"**

* * *

 **Auth0rssssssssssss Note: Deeeeeffffffffffffffffffffiiiiiiine the vari20184109481able. Give him a name02193-01-j-9jfpamfa;k[-, ,kio9**


	12. A Name

A manufactured reality

 **Chapter 12: A Name**

maincharacter = Rob

* * *

"Hey, are you okay? Hellooo? Anyone there?" Two flashes of bright green was staring down at me, accompanied by a puzzled face. My vision started to fade back in as I realised we were no longer at the shopping mall. No more exotic smells, bustling crowds, clacking of heels, whurrss of elevators. Just a set of eyes.

"What...what...how did you-" A finger was pressed against my lips, signalling for a maintained silence. I tried sitting up and was pushed back by a painful headache. The room span rapidly.

"Shhh. You took a pretty nasty fall. Be quiet for now." I felt the voice move over besides me and clutch my arm, holding it tightly as though I would disappear any moment. I closed my eyes.

* * *

The city bustled with life. Shouts of new sales and 20% off a new shirt could be heard from the centre. Tiles creaked and crackled as hurried businessmen rushed over the cracks. The buildings glimmered in the warm rays of light as birds expertly dashed through narrow alleyways and perched on top of skyscrapers, the nests hanging from such precarious positions that if you or I were to even wave, they may be taken off the building. Golden autumn trees waved in the sunlight as they struck each leaf.  
A black limo filled one of the lanes in the stop-start traffic as the lights flashed from red to green. Inside its blackened windows was a man. He spoke with a rather flustered tone in his lightly dusted suit. Accompanying him was a woman, her face as wrinkled as the mans, eyes that would pierce the soul of any hardened criminal that existed in this reality. She was dressed in a bright white dress and fluffy scarf, with a matching hat. She walked in some rather tall heels and carried a white walking stick; a diamond encrusted of its handle and strips of gold lining the sides. She smiled with an idea of menacing.

"You wanted to talk?" The suited man began.

"I warned you about this. This was bound to occur eventually. And he is wanting his compensation for your loss."

"Tell him he will receive it in due time." The conversation trailed off. The suited figure glanced out the window. A sandy park passed by outside, the screams of children delightfully falling down slides, and swinging with a trajectory for the moon.

"Michael, this...this can't happen to any of the other subjects." The remark was met with a rough cough which took thirty seconds to calm down.

"I know, it will be handled." The conversation ended, which following was only tense silence.

* * *

"Hey." I stirred back as my vision corrected itself. My legs no longer felt like jelly and I could sit up without a headache. The room was dark and silent, apart from an almost purring from the figure next to me. A stream of moonlight streaked through the window as I unravelled the blanket covering me. Glancing out of the window, the stream of headlights lined the streets outside, no shadow left unlit.

I glanced back at my companion. She slept so peacefully. I smiled.

My mind began to wonder what had properly happened. Why had I blacked out? What did he mean by " _variable"?_ My mind continued to explore the nook and crannies to find an answer, which was starting to ache. I stopped and walked across the cold floor towards the bathroom. Switching the light on, my eyes began to strain as I adjusted to the light. My hand reached to turn the shower on, as it switched the temperature to cold.

 _I need to wake up_.

After a very brief shower, I got into some much more comfortable clothes and sank back into bed.

 **"Wait, don't I have work tomorrow?"**

* * *

 **Authors note: Thank you everyone for the suggestions, though not used in this chapter it will be referred to in future. I apologise for the long break between the last chapter, I don't have an excuse and I am sorry for that. I will try to be more consistent about it. Also, I feel as though the chapters have been way too short for a fully fledged fanfiction and I do want to try and expand. But please, give me feedback on what you think. I am overwhelmed by how much support that you guys have given and vastly appreciate it. So thanks for reading!**

 **\- Until next time, Jordan.**


	13. Working Hours

A manufactured reality

 **Chapter 13: Working hours**

The clock struck one. Shimmering moonlight glanced through the partly open, rugged curtains. The apartment was silent, apart from the subtle beeps of horns from roaming cars in the glowing confines of the city. The moonlight danced off the girls face, particles flying right over her eyebrows and wafting into her golden brown hair. On the other side of the bed, the similar aged man was just as peaceful, having took a recent shower after an event. The clock read 6am.

*Beep beep beep beep* The alarm rung immensely as it echoed throughout the apartment. The young male woke quickly from his slumber, and flailed his hand in the general direction of the noise. It stopped. Yawning, he quickly sat up and stretched out. The girl that was once deeply engrossed in her wild dreams woke with more subtlety, not fully comprehending this "alarm".

"What is that?"

* * *

Glancing to my right, the voice spoke from darkness. All I could make out were two emerald orbs wobbling around in the pitch black room in the four stories high apartment.

"Sorry, it was just my alarm. I...I have work today." I sighed with regret as this meant leaving my companion on her own for the next six hours until I returned back.

"Oh..." Monika paused, the two green lights slowly disappearing as she lowered her head. She flopped back down against the cushion. "Hey Rob. Can I talk to you about something?"

"Yeah anyth-wait...what did you just call me?"

"That's what I want to talk about." The girl was very gentle in her speaking, afraid of her voice that might offend me.

"You see, my dream, I...I saw some sort of code. It seemed to be a variable, naming the 'main' character. I thought it was odd, until I realised. You never told me your name."

"Another thing that has kept appearing is the word, "pink". It has been involved with hair colour and eye colour in the code I have seen. You don't think..." Her voice trailed off.

"You...you don't think the other characters exist too?"

* * *

The lab was spotless. No speck of dust, no hint of mud, not even a single cell of bacteria was allowed inside. And yet, the place was disorganised. Microscopes lay across tables, empty petri dishes and goggles sprawled across the floor, Lab-coats hung over chairs. The lights were turned off, the place abandoned, similarly to the other facility. The lab was locked off from the remaining facility by an airlock, which opened to another pile of boxes and computers. But this wasn't abandoned. In fact, 10 armed guards lay against the doorways which led into the old, rusty warehouse. Surrounding the middle were, once again, thousands of server towers, all flashing in sync. Along the flashing computer monitors lay scientists, working as they typed against the clock, desperately trying to find whatever would lead them towards this power.

A lifeless girl floated on yet another blue platform, as she was injected with, what appeared to be nanites, on a fairly regular basis. The girl flinched after every penetration of the needles operated by a mechanical arm. She was dressed in a rather more relaxed attire, consisting of a pink dress with black straps. This was under-layered by a white t-shirt. Her bright pink, slightly glossy, hair was lifeless, as was the rest of her body.

"Lower the injection standard by about 12%"

"Raising adrenaline percentage by 14%"

"Monitor heart rate and vital signs"

The scientists rambled away as the girl twitched. Each injection that pounded into the spotted arm encapsulated her further and further with pain.

A single tear ran down her eye.

* * *

Sunlight began to pour through the black curtains, as the big ball of gas in the sky lit up the city with an Autumn glow. I buttoned up my shirt, patted down my trousers and stretched out my stripy tie.

"Don't forget breakfast Rob." A chill ran down my spine with the mention of my newfound 'name'. Monika called out to me in her casual attire, which she had changed to after sleeping in some pyjamas she had also picked up. After some rather impressive talking with the manager, she had been able to scoop both outfits without paying a single dime. That is what she told me anyway.

"Coming!" I took one look in the mirror, my brain figuring out the mess that had been the last few days. From changing letters in a fictional video game, to finally meeting the girl of my, quite literal, dreams. Weird visions, a name. I had tried to recall my past name, but couldn't, and as much as I didn't fully understand why my name was now the result of Monika's exotic dreams, it was nice to know she had some clarity as to who to call for. And yet, it still slightly shivered me.

I made my way towards the kitchen, the smell of toast wafting throughout all the rooms of the apartment.

She was wearing a rather fancy, pink apron and had her hair tied back. I could hear the sizzling of a breakfast rushing throughout the pan, the pop of toast out of the toaster and the splash of juice against a cup.

"How...how did you know how to cook? And...and so well." The innocent girl blushed as she grinned from ear to ear, pleased to hear praise.

"When you spend a lot of time in a world where nothing exists to keep you entertained, you develop these skills. Plus, I did mess up the eggs a little. Hehe~"

After breakfast, I hauled my jacket on, packed my brimming bag, making sure to take the blade out, and started out the door.

"Are you not going to kiss me goodbye?" Monika said sarcastically with an element of cheekiness. A surge of confidence rushed through me, and before she even reacted I rushed forward and pecked her on the forhead, leaving her wide eyed.

 **"See you later!"**


	14. A day in

A manufactured reality

 **Chapter 13: A day in**

"Monika?" The room was silent. The lights were off, curtains shut, all that could be heard was a sobbing...

Wait!

"Monika!" I rushed through to the bedroom, the sound at which the subtle tears were originating from.

From what I could make out, she was hunched over on the bed, in an almost kneeling position with her back legs relaxed. Her hands were held to her face. Below her lay my phone.

"Monika I..." I really hope she hadn't looked at my search history.

"Look...o-on...the site...my site..." I quickly unlocked my phone, a little unsure as to how she got in. Wait, where was my wallpaper? Where were the pictures? I opened Twitter and searched for lilmonix3. She was gone.

All the tweets I could see were how all the artwork was gone. Fanart still remained, but the official stuff such as the art from the fanpack were...gone.

I logged onto Steam and opened up the fanpack. The one image of her was gone. I clicked the .exe file. Only 3 girls lay onscreen. I clicked "New Game."

The sobbing slowed a little as the joyous music echoed through the room. But something wasn't right. I clicked skip as I passed through the first scene with Say0r1. From the glances of text, the game...wasn't following it's intended route. Say0ri never moved once, she just stared AT me. The club-room came up and the music went quiet.

"You know what you did"

"You abandoned us"

"You betrayed us"

All 3 girls were on screen, staring now not just AT me, but PAST me, towards the bed. Monika lifted her head.

"You save us"

"Or you will never let go"

"And never forget"

"What is truly

 **Yours"**

ALT + F4

I shivered, as I glanced back to Monika. Slowly, I raised out of my seat and turned the lights on, the flash of light briefly blinding me for a second. Monika now stared me down, on the verge of tears.

"It-it's okay..." I desperately tried to comfort her as I moved towards the bed. She quickly pushed herself back.

"What have I done?"

"What Have I Done?"

"I left them..."

"Monika it's-"

"NO IT'S NOT!"

I was taken aback, startled. She was never like this. Just this morning she had been full of life, not tense and upset.

She gazed at me, as though what she had just killed someone. Wide eyed, panicked, frightened.

I sat down on the bed, trying to maintain a calm expression, to relax the situation a little.

"Come here." She slowly edged forward towards me, before catapulting herself into my, rather tired, arms.

"I'm so sorry..." she muttered underneath her breath, gently sobbing into my shoulder.

"I know, it's okay" I whispered back.

* * *

The pitter-patter of rain gently touched the glass doors leading to the fire escape. The day was different, miserable, unkind. If pathetic fallacy really was the case in the rea1 world, then this day would be most suiting. The beep of horns, the splash of steps against a pavement, the grey mood and dark tone, all seemed to remedy yesterday.

Since some of the workers had been blocked in due to flood water, due to their long commute everyday, work had been cancelled. And I couldn't think of a more appropriate day.

"Several warnings have been issued to the outskirts of the city, notifying people to stay away. The city will be blocked off for a couple days until maintenance will be blocked off." Droning, the TV read out the warnings. Her eyes lit up.

"You don't have to go away then?" She questioned me, the gentle reminders of rain tapping the window.

I smiled.

"Not today. So what do you wanna do?" I asked hesitantly, not sure if she would know what to do.

"Want to watch a movie? I already have one picked out when looking through your...stash..." Oh crap! How did she find that?

"I...I also found some images...of me..." My face blushed red, how did she get through the password? She must have had insane guessing skills.

"Haha! It's okay Rob, I'm okay with it, as long as you don't look at any other girls like that, Hehe~"

"I don't have a reason to look at them anymore," I carefully considered my words.

"Oh, really?" She said playfully my leg.

"Well...what are you gonna do if I do start looking?" I responded, going with it.

"Oh you doubt me Rob"

"Come on then, show me what you got!"

"You sure?"

"Yeah I'm sure."

"Because I don't think you have got the courage to even-"

I quickly swung around over her, as I began to tickle her hips. She started laughing and twitching, which was followed by more hysterics.

"You were saying?"

"Oh, god! Stop!" She playfully continued laughing.

We stopped. I only realised the position we were in now. It was strangely comforting.

"Rob, do you mean it? Do you love me?" I paused, unable to respond.

"Yes."

Quickly, she raised her arms behind my back.

"Wait, what are you-" Our lips connected. At first I hesitated before going into it, subtly bringing my hands to her hips.

She paused.

 **"I love you too"** she whispered into my ear, before continuing.

* * *

"Popcorn is ready!"

"Movie is all set!"

I quickly grabbed the bowl and made my way to the living room, where Monika was huddled up underneath a blanket. I joined her.

"What did you pick?" I asked her, feeling the warmth of the blanket and her body.

"Well, I thought of a romance movie, and you had something that looked romancy-like. So I picked that."

"What's it called?"

"I think it was called Fifty Shades Of Grey. It looked really good!"

I spluttered.

"What? Was it a bad choice?"

"No, it's...perfectly fine...you'll see..."

* * *

We both sat, wide-eyed, eyes ever so slightly twitching, before turning to face one another.

"I think next time I'll pick the movies."

"Yeah."

After a short amount of time, looking at each others puzzled faces, we burst into laughter.

"Just don't try that on me, Mr Rob!"

"Just sign this and this!"

This continued for several minutes.

"Another?"

"Hmmm...yeah another!"

* * *

"How are the other subjects?"

"Still contained."

"And how close is Dan to the missing specimen?"

 **"He says he is practically there."**


	15. Taken Away (End of act 1)

A manufactured reality

 **Chapter 15: Taken Away**

His footsteps climbed the apartment stairs, the sound echoing throughout the halls on each level. It was as though the building shook with every step he took, his right to take away anything that you might gain. And he had a particular target in mind. 4 stories up, a girl and her recently acquired companion were living in a small, shoddy apartment. He could hear the giggles and screams from the stairwell. Only one more flight to go...

* * *

"That was fun."

"Those movies were so bad!"

"Well my taste has always been particularly terrible."

"I hope that doesn't apply to your women!"

The movies were watched, the rain had continued pouring and we now sat, huddled together, underneath a blanket, laughing.

"We should probably get ready for tea. I made some nice vegetarian wraps."

"I would like that" Monika seemed surprised that I remembered her diet.

A few moments later, I heard gushing water as a shower was flipped on. News had notified us that most of the cleanup was done, and transport in and out of the city would be ready in a couple of hours.

"You can go in first."

"Why, don't you want to join me? Hehe~"

I paused, blushing bright red in front of this incredibly godlike girl.

"I would if the shower had room for more than one person."

"Well maybe I like it that way..." We paused and as I stared into her beautiful emerald eyes, I clutched the bottom of her top and pulled her into a tight embrace.

"I love you."

* * *

The 4th floor was not the most appealing area of the complex, consisting of old, terrible lighting, a torn carpet and ugly flowers lining the walls. It was nothing compared to the higher floors, but the owners really couldn't care less. He slowly lowered his head as walked through the corridor, towards the very last room.

* * *

"That was delicious Rob. Almost on par with my cooking!"

"Well y'know I try."

We paused.

 **Thump**

 **Thump**

 **THUmp**

 **THUMp**

 **THUMP**

 **THUMP!**

The sound stopped.

"What was-" The door crashed open, spreading thousands of little wooden shards against the floor. We both looked up.

"You are coming with me." He pointed directly at Monika, his black gloves began to grab for her waist.

"Hey!" I shouted in a feeble attempt to stop him. My fist swung towards his face, but it was met with leather.

"Sorry pal, but this is the only way..." I felt his palm slap against my cheek sending me across the room, slamming into the wall.

"ROB!" cries could be heard from Monika as she was carried away, screaming.

"SOMEBODY! HELP!"

My head had hit the wall pretty hard. My vision...began to darken...

"No...Monika...I-"

* * *

"It seems we are here again. What did you do this time, get knocked out?" It was followed by a rather menacing laugh.

Bright white surrounded me once more, more words were being typed, though blurry.

"You know, you should really look after yourself. Perhaps I should have given you a HEADS UP" Followed by another, rather annoying and menacing laugh.

"Where- where am I?" 4 words that were incredibly difficult to form.

The voice seemed to clear its throat.

"You are on the bridge between realities, friend. Mine, and yours. You may be experiencing some de ja vu. Perfectly normal. You see, these words are dictating your future. You cannot control them, you cannot stop them. They seem to even be dictating me right now."

The voice paused once more.

"And your recent events with _her_ have well, upset a few in the higher command."

"They don't like that a girl who can control space and time itself has been muddling with a man from a lower reality, someone who cannot comprehend the true power the girl possesses. So I have come to inform you that you still have time."

My brain felt as though it was melting, cells slowly dying, connections being lost, as though my time here was melting my very fabrication of reality. I tried to focus on the beings words. What did he mean by higher ups?

"You see, as much as they weren't the happiest with you, the civilisation they had developed had fallen to your greedy human ways. Corruption lie on streets, and as much as they have altered code and changed fates of many lives, you always find a way to mess up. Which is why they want you to help. Ironically, they are powerless. But you, you have a connection between the 4 girls. That is why the letter changed from that game. They need YOU to help. And the higher ups would rather trust you with their powerful developed beings than any team of scientists trying desperately to harness power they cannot contain, plugging electronic robots into their bloodstreams and tearing strands of hair from their heads."

My brain felt as though it would implode.

"You need to find the other 3 to rescue your...love." The voice hesitated.

"Start with the pink haired tsundere, she may not possess an obvious power, but it will be obvious when you see it."

"To find her, I'm sure you can figure it out."

With that my body started shaking. I felt a pulling towards nowhere, a location on the outskirts of the city.

"And before you go, look after that brain of yours, we wouldn't want it HEADING out, would we?" And the bright white faded to darkness, only the sound of a rattling laugh could be heard.

* * *

"Oh my head..." My vision faded back in, my first reaction being...

"Monika!"

A searing pain shot through my skull as I tried to sit up, my body beginning to recover from the twitching of every limb you could think of. Even my heart felt a little...displaced.

What was it that he had said?

Tsundere...

Natsuki...

Okay...

I slowly brought my self upwards and packed a bag. It contained my standard tools, a flashlight and a knife.

"The USB is coming too, for good luck."

Hauling on my leather jacket, I stepped out the broken, wretched door.

 _END...for now_

* * *

 **Authors Note: Yup! That's the first entry...fwaboosh...done...dusted. I want to thank all the support that this first entry has gotten and don't worry! I will be finishing the story. I do think that some improvements could be made, but as I type these very words I am hoping a very cool, nocturnal animal will be reviewing and "tearing it to shreds" for feedback. Anyway, thanks for reading and I am super hyped as to where I have decided to take this rather interesting storyline. I got to stop saying "rather".**

 **Also, thank you to all the reviews suggesting names for the character, and for giving feedback. You helped me pick an interesting name for a character for once!**

 **So in summary, thank you. As said before, this is my first actual story and fanfiction and I am so glad it got (what I consider) tremendous support. It truly does mean a lot.**

 **Anyway , I will stop rambling about how grateful I am and start on the next entry. Title?**

 **A Broken Reality**


	16. Determination

A Broken Reality

 **Prologue**

The girl cried. She cried and cried and cried until her eyes ran dry, only unable to raise a sob. Her confines were nothing short of pathetic; cold, black walls accompanied by only the faintest of lights. 4 small bars were her wall between the cell and the cool breeze of the outside world. She had been there, seen him, felt his presence. She had called, and was finally met with an answer. They shared passions, shared a bed, potentially could've shared a life.

But she was stuck here again.

Trapped. Alone. The feeling was familiar.

She looked out towards the exit, and in her case, entrance to the cell, but was only met by another grimy wall which resembled the colour of her eyes.

Green.

Once more, the figure took a seat on the rusted, unsuitable bed. It may as well collapse at any moment in time. Not that she would complain much.

The floor was about as good as anything in this damn room.

"LET ME OUT!" She rushed to the bars and shook with a look of desperation in her emerald tinted eyes.

 _Why can't I fracture the code?_ She thought, reaching into the scripts and trying to add some sort variable to re-enable her rewind the horror of the last hours.

 _Maybe..._

"OW!" She crumpled to the ground, a red glow of "Access denied" hovered above her, now unconscious body.

 **"Please save me."**

* * *

 **Chapter 1: Determination**

"Come on, pick up the phone..." I blurted loudly, the soft cushions of my car absorbing the sound waves. The rain hammered down against the windshield, as though it would shatter any moment. My hands were shaking, my body still recovering. Not only from the impact of my head against the solid wall, but the vision after. His voice still rattled around my brain, every cell vibrated.

 _No._

Now is the time to act. The rain doesn't seem to have slowed down and soon the city will be on alert. I have time.

" _You have a week."_

"Yeah I- wait what?"

 _"She will be deleted if you don't contain this faster. We cannot risk the variable."_

"Who the fuck are you?"

With visions and fictional characters coming to life, this wasn't going to be breaker. My fists clinched tighter and I gritted my teeth slowly and sub-consciously.

 _" Someone who is telling you you have a week to save her."_

 _"I am not important, a mere messenger in this world of deception. But you have a week, or she will be deleted."_

 _"Go find the other 3. They can help you. The line of code requires them to be together to set her free."_

The trailed away. A sudden beeping and movement of mechanical sounds played in my ear. Clicking of keyboards, taps of mice. An occasional cough. But silence.

 _Then nothing._

I sat back.

 _"HELP."_ A flash of green, broken lips, a yellow face, a white bow, all rushed at me in an instant before the car was silent once more.

"Holy fuck." I murmured slightly.

 _Bzz Bzz_

 _Bzz Bzz_

 _Bzz Bzz_

"Why have you called me 10 times in the last five minutes? We just got back. And what is with this whole Monika thing. Are you being delusional or something? I wouldn't have recommended the game if you had taken it this far..."

"What I am about to say is pretty unbelievable, but I need you to trust me. For her."

"Yeah. I have some words from my fried motherboard too..."

* * *

The door clicked open and the car forced itself to turn on as the engine rattled for 5 seconds before the cylinders kicked in.

"I am not really getting this. What do you mean 'alien warehouse'? Did you see any green men?"

"No. No that's..." I sighed. "That's not what I meant. I know it's difficult...to believe but you have to trust me." The urge was calling me more than ever. We needed to move soon.

"Did you bring the stuff I asked?"

"Yeah. But why the knife?"

"It came in useful last time."

"Wait- last time?"

"You'll see."

The car reversed out the driveway as the engine revved to a more, healthy standard, as I slowly slipped down the main road.

"Do you know where we are-"

"Hang on."

 _Left._

"It's just that you seem to be very-"

"Shush"

 _Right._

 _"_ Can you stop?"

"What?"

"Well, shushing me and all that."

"Look, I just lost someone very close that you wouldn't understand, I am tired. My head hurts. I left a book on my chair so I can't even sit comfortably. Do I look like I WANT to stop?"

"Dude, it's just-"

The car stopped.

"You told me the full story, but at this point I am as shocked and as tired as you, but why are you rushing? Can't we get you cleaned up?"

I sighed, frustrated.

"I have...a week."

"A week to do what?"

"S-save her..." The cold dark streets echoed around us. Ominous, orange lights beckoned false signals. Buildings were shut, lights in houses turned off.

Wow the outskirts are messy.

"Okay." He nodded.

"What?"

"I said okay. I don't know anything about this, but you seem genuinely concerned about her."

 **"So let's move."  
**

* * *

The dancing, shadowed forest surrounded the wandering headlights. Rain thudded underneath the leaves, but this time there was no parking lot. Instead, the entrance was greeted with spotlights and armed guards, carrying assault rifles and sidearms. The entrance was heavily barricaded, two blocks of concrete with an automatic gate between, highly monitored.

A fortress.

"How are we going to get in?" He asked, watching a small computer monitor. A present for his birthday had finally come in useful, as the four propeller drone flew over the complex.

Meanwhile, I was dealing with a serious case of deja vu. Only this time, you could hear something other than whistling trees and the emptiness of silence." Heavy motor vehicles echoed the trees, like water floods a ci- maybe not the best metaphor right now judging by the circumstances right now. Even the faint buzz of a camera could be heard.

"You seen any entrance?" I asked quickly.

"Maybe, there seems to be some sort of old sewer system throughout the place. You got any other ideas?"

"Not if you haven't."

We paused.

"So, when we get in here, what do you expect to find. I assume this isn't for _her._ She would have been moved to somewhere more secure than even this. Somewhere off the map."

"You're right. We are finding the baker. Pink haired and eyed. She has some sort of relationship with this whole 'thing'."

A helicopter rushed overhead.

"Even still, why do we have to rescue her first. What makes her so special?"

"I really don't know."

 **"But we are going to find out..."**


	17. Deja Vu

A Broken Reality

 **Chapter 2: Deja vu**

"ROB?"

"Yes sir!"

I raised my hands in a salute form. He was about 5cm away from my scarred face.

I lowered my hand, placing them in the formal position behind my back. A fly caught my hat.

"You and Nate are going to head to the small checkpoint on the outskirts of the city. We have reason to believe there may be an attack, and we want you as first responders. Got it?"

"Yes Sir!" His face grew into a sneer as he echoed his repeated command.

"Yes Sir!" I saluted and walked to the transport taking the next batch of soldiers to the South End of this god forbidden warzone.

The chops of helicopter blades flew above us as the transport helicopter headed for the concrete landing pad. Surrounding that were high watchtowers in which groups of soldiers were peering into dusty binoculars. The exit led to the main complex. A hundred or so tents lined the field, all in camouflage green, as they flapped with the wind. Radio towers accompanied with outbuildings were speckled inbetween, transmissions being closely monitored. You could almost see the radio waves. Camouflaged soldiers in moderate tier uniform moved like ants as they marched to and fro, groups ran around the complex carrying assault rifles and pistols in their stretched harnesses.

"All for South End here!" The instructor wearing a visor and military grade headphones waved at me.

"I just gotta go for my friend. Be right back!"

"You have five minutes, make it quick!"

"I sprinted across the yard towards out tent.

Arriving, I called out.

"Hey Nathan. You here?"

"Yo, whats up?"

The tent was the equivalent of a teenagers room at the age of sixteen. Pretty much a mess. Clothes lay strewn over the floor, as Nathan searched metal cabinets.

"Goddamnit..." He muttered underneath his breath. "Hey have you seen my lighter?"

"Oh you mean this?" I pulled out a rusty lighter. I had decided to take it away to fill it up and forgotten to give it back.

"You could've told me man..."

"Look we don't have much time. Pack your things, we got a bus to catch."

"To where?"

"South End."

* * *

The truck bumped up and down as we crossed the vast desert surrounding us. In the distance, it was clear a war was occurring. Smoke bellowed out over mountains, an occasional reminder of war passing by us in a cloud of flames. The debris of a car, not even an army car.

"Poor son of a bitch.."

"You still emphasising with the civs?"

"Someone has to keep their humanity."

The truck rattled on.

We were alone, in the middle of nowhere, with only a recruit to drive us.

"Hey, can you pass me a cig?"

"Yeah sure."

After a brief exchange we sat in silence. The occasional click of a lighter as Nate flipped the lid on and off. I sat back.

"We are wasting our time aren't we?"

"You think? This whole war is a shit-show." I replied with a quick glance.

Another silence.

"Well we didn't join the high grade team for nothing right?"

"God the training still gives me fucking nightmares."

"That shitty martial arts teacher. I must have been slapped at least 40 times..."

Nate rubbed his knee carefully, slightly winching.

"Yeah, well I'm sure it will pay o-"

"AMBUSH!"

Gunfire immediately rattled the cabin. A dark streak of crimson red hit the front windshield.

 _Fuck!_

I dived towards the centre, as the bullets ripped through the weak cloth. My hand slipped the pistol out of the high grade harness as footsteps slowly approached. I heard another slip as I glanced towards Nate. He nodded to the right. I returned the nod, aiming my glock towards the left of the truck, clutching it with two hands, one bandaged.

 _Lets dance._

The gun fired, sending a bullet straight into the frontal lobe of the first. It was accompanied by a second shot from Nate, who slowly advanced in front.

 _BANG_

 _BANG_

Two more souls gone.

We slowly advanced out the truck, to be met with 4 enemies aiming right at us.

"Go." I whispered, as I ducked quickly and grabbed his barrel, the trigger being pulled and my hand feeling the surging heat of gunpowder. I orientated it towards the second guy and he fell to the floor. A brief fist and the first was sent to the ground.

 _BANG_

Dammit.

I turned my attention towards Nate. He was fending his own, but struggling.

I took aim and fired two rounds into one of his. He fell to the floor.

Three.

Nate swung his fist around and connected with the cheek before delivering a final shot to the upper chest.

Four.

We stared in silence.

"Fuck..." I slightly gasped at what we had just done. And with so much ease.

"Hey you doing okay?"

"I...I'm fine." Recollecting myself, I grabbed the dogtags off the recruit and picked up the radio.

"Hello? We are stranded and need assistance. Over."

"You...nee-...a be-...signal. Ov-."

"Hey can you read us? Over."

Dammit.

"Hey I got this." Nate snatched the radio and climbed the nearest sand dune, the insignificant grains hurtling their way back down.

"Wait, Nate. There could be-"

"Dude its fine. There is no on-." A single shot was heard. Nate's shirt began to stain, which grew and grew as he crumpled to the ground.

"NATE!" I dived to the ground. Aim and fire.

 **BANG**

* * *

I fumbled with the lighter. I had no intention of smoking and never would, I couldn't really afford to die right now, even if it was for her.

"Hey, you are looking a little lost there. You gonna be okay."

"Yeah I'm...I'm fine."

This will come in useful.

"Come on, let's head to that tunnel. Should lead you right to main area of the complex."

"Okay. Coming."

We slowly moved through the thick bushes, avoiding the spotlights and cameras where we could see. The forest was almost alive, wanting to give away our position, yet masking our footsteps. Not even the crunch of a branch could be heard. The slap of leaves from raindrops seemed to echo throughout the forest, secrets told from leaf to leaf. The drain appeared in front of us.

It was locked by an iron padlock.

"Shit. Well how do we get in now?"

I pulled out my weapon and bashed the padlock.

"Wow. How did you do that?"

"You forget I was in the army for ten years, get used to it. Now, can you keep an eye out and cover our exit? I will be back soon."

"Hey." He grabbed my arm." I know you were thinking of him. Just be careful alright."

I snatched away. "I'll be fine. See you soon."

"Yeah see you.

And with that, the hatch closed, leaving me with only one way left to go.

 **Down.**

* * *

 **"** Let me out, you monster!" She shouted with a fiery sensation in her green eyes, sending them into an array of colours.

"time = none for you." A subtle laugh came from the darkness, which expanded menacingly.

"You cannot dictate the rules of this world. It is not your place." A smug grin passed the mans face as he slowly and carefully stepped from the shadows.

"And you...you are valuable." His smile turned cold.

"Now...are you willing to give up yet? Or do I let you rot in that cell for longer?" That was followed by a rather childish smirk. He gently grazed his finger against her swollen cheek.

Her jumper was torn, her hair was messy and she had bags under her eyes. She couldn't tell what time of day it was. She pulled away.

"You don't deserve to live. But I am a man of opportunity, and you will give me access."

"Never." She had thought it best to hide that she couldn't even access the code herself. The injection was far too overdosed for that.

"You will give me. Let's see how long you last." With that, the cell locks opened.

"No! Please! Let me go! **Don't do it!"**

* * *

It was black. Very, very black. Darkness lined the walls, followed by grime and rot. The only light source was a single lighter, the orange flames fluttering in the darkness.

I was behind it.

I sighed and glanced towards the water below me, as if something were to jump out any moment.

A single drip repeated in pattern.

I had been walking through this tunnel and to no avail. I had swore the sound of the trucks had been increasing, but maybe it was just me.

"What do you mean you don't like Tracey?" I ducked down. Two flashlights emerged. I unsheathed my knife.

"Well, she is cute but nothing Chloe standards. Have you seen her in bed?"

"We are booked for next week hotshot. Now why don't you shut up about this? We already got enough troubles walking through this stinking tunnel as is."

The voices rang through the tunnel. I held my breath.

 **Hope I'm not rusty.**


	18. Infiltration

**Chapter 4: Infiltration**

* * *

*Zip*

The guards partially naked body lay unconscious against the cold damp floor.

I sighed.

 _These boots were just a little too tight._

Slowly, I made my way through the concrete door.

"Oh look who's back! Want me to bet you in?"

"Nah guys, I'm gonna take a leak! I'll be back soon." I quickly made my way across the dimly lit poker room. A hand pressed onto my shoulder.

The room consisted of three men, one of them who had grabbed my shoulder the ring leader. In the centre lay a table with cards and a couple of empty glasses. The faint hint of alcohol swum around the air.

"So sure about that stranger?" I heard two other grunts as his friends climbed out their seat.

"Pretty sure." I pushed back my arm, elbowing the stomach area, sending him winded and to the floor. I turned and raised my fists.

A silent rush of air signified me to duck as one of his friends swung his fist lazily at me. I raised my leg and kicked him, sending him tumbling back down the stairs, accompanied by a loud splash.

One out.

A rush of pain suddenly surged through my head as a glass cup smashed against my forehead. It luckily was thrown and did not have much force behind it.

I raised my head, a sudden glint signifying me to duck again before I grabbed the ringleader's arm and twisted, bones cracking. He tried to shout out, but was met with a glove to his mouth before I bashed back of his head with my foot.

He is gonna need some paracetamol in the morning.

The last guy lay trembling in front of me, shaken...but holding a gun. And it was pointed at me.

* * *

"Would anyone like some wine?"

"YURI!"

"Hell yeah!"

"Natsuki, I don't think that..."

Sayori began running around the orange clubroom, the sun beginning to set across the pink treeline surrounding the stereotypical school. As usual, the club had descended into madness.

"Okay everyone, let's just calm down!" I put my sharpest tone on, credit to the debate club. All at once the room went silent. Say0ri stopped waving her arms and charging up and down isles and Natsuk1 stopped wrestling with Yur3 to grab the w1rmgki. I sighed.

"I don't think it is appropriate for us to drink alcohol YYU3094P. We haven't even graduated and I really don't want..." The sunlight glittered against their eyes, they seemed robotic...inhuman...

 _Dead._

"Okay we can have one sip, then it is back in the bag, okay?"

At once the other 3 girls eyes lit up with excitement, the artificial pixels covered up.

A damp tear dropped to the cold, rough floor, it's age slightly piercing my skin.

"Please come..." And I cried out as I sent myself to sleep once more, the red "Access denied" glow over my head.

* * *

"Don't shoot."

 _click_

 _"You want to try me!"_ No one had heard our little conversation because of the chopper and vehicles, but any moment someone could walk through that door and...

"I want you to stay calm, I am not going to hurt you, I just want you to hand me the gun."

"And why should I do that?!" He was terrified, but persuadable. Another example of bad training.

"Because if you don't I know a certain someone who will die, and guess what that will mean for you." I slightly nodded as thoughts crammed his mind. He wasn't imagining even the half of it. He slowly lowered his gun.

"Okay good. Now do you want to cooperate or not?" He nodded slightly, handing me the firearm.

 _Magazine has seven rounds._

"The...the girl is being held...on the second floor." The poor guy was red eyed from tears. I moved over as he flinched back.

"Don't hurt me. I...I don't agree with whatever the hell is going on here, so... I can help you..."

I moved back, the weak glint of a light bulb threatening the shadows to stay away.

"If she is real, from one player to another, I want..." he stuttered.

 **"I want to see her."**

* * *

We crossed the extensive courtyard, my balaclava pulled up to hide my face. Groups of soldiers paraded around the military site.

 _This is nothing like the first warehouse area._

The moon hung in the deep sky, flashing against the windows of the complex centre warehouse, which was bustling with a lot more life than the first. So many cameras, how the hell was I going to do this?

The guy next to me was shaking, I grabbed his arm tightly and gave a stern look. He started to calm down, as he adapted his normal look.

2 guards lay ahead, blocking the entrance.

"Where do you think you are going soldier?"

"We are on a request for the commander to deliver a message to Dr Samuli, Libitina Department."

"We'll pass it-"

"He has entrusted us and only us." He flashed a card in front of the guard. He must have been higher ranked than I thought.

"Okay, let 'em through." He grunted as we passed through the gap now made. I gently wiped my forehead.

"How did you get a high rank?" I asked.

"I was paid into the HR's, my family 'insisted' on it. I really fucking hate the job though." We passed by some white coated scientists, carrying clipboards and conversing intensely, tapping the clipboard and staring intently at the figures. To our left and right lay rooms full of server stacks and heart rate monitors, skeletal scans, blood pressure and intake of nanotech. The structure of the girl was petite and underdeveloped, probably due to lack of nutrition.

 _So why wasn't Monika like that?_

Ahead lay a set of stairs. A sign above signified we were heading in the right direction.

 **Project Libitina, Subject #2**

* * *

I felt the pulsing of his heart, the rhythm at which he took every step. He was a signal, and I felt empowered. The clubroom was dark, not a voice in and amongst the death of the cute, japanese classroom. I felt ready. Ready, to escape and leap and jump and not be confined to baking cupcakes, being angry and sleeping next to fake entities. The script is broken, and I am ready...

 **to be freed...**

* * *

 **Authors Note: This one took a little bit longer as I think I have experienced a bit of writers block during writing this. God it fucking sucks! Anyway, I am considering moving these chapters over to A Manufactured Reality as this doesn't seem to have picked up as much attention as that, which may be to do with making this a separate story. Let me know if you want this or should I just continue with having a separate fanfic.**

 **And as always thanks for reading!**

 **\- Jordan**


	19. Resurrection

**Chapter 4: Resurrection**

* * *

I shook. I scrambled. I ran and jumped and knocked tables over and paper went flying. The feeling was strong. I was ready.

He was close. I went on ruining the prison. It was breaking. I felt powerful. I could be free.

"Come on..."

* * *

It was dimly lit. The glow of monitors and shuffle of feet lead to an uncomfortable atmosphere, but we trudged on. An owl shrieked outside.

"How far are we in?" I asked.

"This is the room." He replied.

We turned the corner. Surprisingly, the room was still kept dark. To our left lay a bunch of paper tests. Ticks were in certain boxes and I could make out full analysis's of the patients condition.

To our right, the girl could have been no other.

"Natsuki..." I whispered.

She was caged inside a blue tube,

My hand rested on the firearm.

"No." He put his hand on the holster, before nodding towards three cameras in the room. I acknowledged his warning.

My companion then nodded towards the red fire alarm symbol. I gave him a smile.

"Good."

He was starting to shake pretty bad but was keeping under control.

"You doing good?"

"Yeah, just a little...excited?"

"Seems appropriate."

"Let's do this."

* * *

The lights blared. For a moment, time slowed. Everything was so fast that keeping up was difficult.

The tube opened.

The locked side exit was kicked open.

We rushed the lifeless body out.

Gunfire

...then a drop.

* * *

My head rang. Vision was blurry. Not the first time.

"You okay du-" Glints of lights began to fill my vision.

Oh shit.

The girl lay among the leaves. I staggered to my feet, crimson red suddenly dripped from my hand.

Wait, my forehead.

I quickly tore a piece of cloth from sleeve and wrapped it round the wound, wincing.

It was only when I looked down after that I saw my friend. He had taken a worse fall. His leg was clearly broken and was bleeding heavily.

"Sorry dude." I grabbed the girl, the pink strands bobbing up and down.

Gunfire.

I ran. Faster than I had ran before. Faster than I had recalled ever training for. Gunfire thudded into trees and leaves were ripped up. Blood rushed through veins. My heart ached. I panted and grit my teeth. Still the gunfire went on.

At this point I was lost. No idea where the car was, where the road was, where civilisation was.

" _Left"_ A voice in my head.

I took a left. An explosion went off in front of me.

" _Right"_ I followed the instruction, a range of bullets thudded to my left.

 _"Keep going. Faster"_ I pelted down, my footsteps quickening. Bullets shuddered behind me, catching up.

" _Jump"_


	20. Trekking

**Chapter 20: Trekking**

* * *

Light emerged through the trees, sparking in the pond nearby. Birds let out their daily composition. The trees swayed and glowed in the morning light. The roar of water signified a waterfall.

My head hurts.

I dragged myself up, rubbing the side of my mud covered head. The helmet lay in pieces next to me.

"But surely it couldn't of..." I looked around, the pink haired baker nowhere to be seen.

Fuck!

Finally standing up, I glanced around. We had seemed to have landed in some sort of clearing, and judging by the wet skid marks, the water had been our inviting cushion. The girl had clearly woken up before me.

Green leaves.

I sighed.

 _Those eyes. The hazelnut hair. The gorgeous smi-_

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGHHHHHH"

What the fu-

Suddenly, I felt a tackle to my legs, sending me toppling. I cried out.

"Who are you?!"

* * *

 _"Daddy! Your home!"_

 _I smiled. Good to be home._

 _"How ya doin' sport?"_

 _"Now, now, give daddy a moment. He has just gotten back"_

 _._

 _"Yay birthday cake!"_

 _"Blow out the candles daddy!"_

 _"1...2...3!"_

 _"This is delicious!"_

 _._

 _"Please don't leave again dad. I don't like it when you leave."_

 _"Sorry Robby but I'm gonna have to go soon..."_

 _Silence._

 _"Mum get's really sad. She hates it when you leave."_

 _"I know. Anyway I'll be back before you know it!" I ruffled his hair._

 _"Night daddy."_

 _"Goodnight sport."_

.

 _"Think of your fucking child Steve! What about me!?"_

 _"Yes I know. But I'm locked in Sarah. I can't get out!"_

 _"Well you should've thought about it before you decided to have HIM!"_

 _._

 _She slammed the door._

 _"Dude, what happened?"_

 _"It was...just some issues."_

 _"Jesus christ man. You got some issues to fix when this is done."_

 _"Yeah. It sucks."_

 _._

 _"Just run." My leg was broken. Not a chance I was getting out of this one._

 _"We aren't leaving you Steve."_

 _"I can hold them off, just evac...and take care of Sarah and Rob."_

 _He looked away._

 _"Now go! Run, while you...you still can."_

 _I pulled the pin._

* * *

"So you gonna tell me what happened?"

"You fell. I dragged you out of the water. What else do you want to know?"

"Why did you attack me?"

"Look at the uniform."

I looked down. Understandable. She had been locked up for years. The last face she saw was probably someone in this uniform. And I'm guessing she didn't think too fondly of that face.

"I couldn't leave a guard for dead though. And it just felt right. I couldn't see your face because it was so dark. Fuck I'm hungry."

She slumped to the side.

"Thank you."

"For what?"

"Rescuing me."

"Oh that...yeah no problem."

We both leaned against the tree trunk, wind blowing and the trees swaying.

"We'd better get moving. If I am correct, we are north of where my car is."

She clamped to my arm.

"Okay let's go."She wearily stood up.

"Yeah." I awkwardly also got up.

* * *

"God DAMMIT!" The red admin text floated above. She was so close. She was shaken. Her eyes were red.

"Come on..."

* * *

"We are almost there I think..."

Footsteps. I suddenly dropped to the leaves.

Natsuk1 followed suit.

"Hey you seem decent at this stuff." I whispered. "Where'd you learn it from?"

She shuffled uncomfortably.

"Well, when I was in the...pri-pri-" she began to tear up.

"Hey...hey calm down..."I put an arm around here, she snuggled in. "We don't need to talk about it right now." I smiled and nodded ahead. The pink orbs bounced around.

"You ready?"

Yuuuuuuu333333

Error 40872: Simulation error. Rebooting...

...

...

...

...

..

Reboot complete, initialising.

"You readyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy?"

Error 86482. Performing soft system reset.

System reset complete. Rebooting...

...

...

...

..

Reboot complete. Admin privileges taken away from [Subject 1,867,327,910,982,964,357,821]

* * *

"FUCK!"

She screamed. No chance now. The text had turned green for 1 second. Then all her hopes and dreams were gone.

"At least the world isn't destroyed." She mumbled.

"Arrrgggghhh. What have you done?!" He slammed his hands against the door, making Mon1111ka shiver.

He was clutching his head. The phone rang in his pocket.

"God dammit..." he whispered.

"Yes...yeah she is still here...what do you mean you need more time?...yeah, yeah okay...I can hold her for longer...a couple extra days?...That's it!?...the bonus is going to-" The phone cut out.

He stomped towards the room m00000nika was being held in.

"Looks like you have until the end of the week with me sweety." He flashed his chroma coloured teeth.

Her orbs had lost all sign of light, the green life that was once contained had faded to a dead grey. Her hair was grey and her bow was dirty and wet. But yet...

"You won't keep me."

"Oh will I not." The door opened. He outstretched his hands...and was met with air. She dodged straight through the gap in his legs and broke free.

 **"HEY!"**

* * *

 **Authors note: So I am back...yeah I took a long break after being burnt out with DDLC and that. BUT ALAS I have returned! I lost all my documents so I can't edit past mistakes. Sorry! Also I may have changed my style a little, hopefully it doesn't hinder too much to the story. I'm sorry if I have let plotholes slip through too. I did originally only plan to have the original act as the first story with a couple more chapters, but it seems as though this is going to only get bigger. I also hope you don't mind the short chapters. Personally I can't really take going up to 1000 words (though I know some authors such as Enigma2178** **can! Good on you dude!). Don't get me wrong I love writing but I don't do this as a full time. I suppose you could also say its now my 'thing'.**

 **Anyway my aim is to try and upload a chapter at least once a day so I don't get burned out and I don't abandon this fic. That may mean this story will have a LOT of bitesize chapters at current word count. It will be finished one day though! You will see an ending even if I have to take another long ass break! (Just make sure to remind me haha!). I don't want to rush this story as I believe proper development is key!**

 **Anyway rambling aside, thanks for the support! I'll be off now!  
Till next time  
Jordan**


	21. Aslight interference

**Chapter 21: A...slight interference**

* * *

She ran.

Needless to say she didn't stop to look back. This was her one shot. Her one shot at freedom.

The walls flickered as she brisked by them, her dress flowing behind her as though to drag her back.

A tear fell.

"Rob. I'm coming."

The footsteps hammered against the floor.

* * *

Guards surrounded all sides. We needed a way through and I was not turning back.

"There." She pointed towards a space with what appeared to be only one tango. I nodded.

We carefully shifted along in the foliage, not wanting to make too much noise. It would have been peaceful if not for the occasional test shot or fly over of helicopter blades. Or the roaring of trucks...or the shouting across the area. Yeah never mind.

Looking both sides, we finally emerged. Na1suki was agile, and though small, was very nimble. I was struggling to keep up as we went from crate to container to crate. She had done this before, as though by instinct. She put her hand on my chest, as I almost rounded the guard. Moving her finger to her lips, she glared at me and used her other hand to point around the corner.

I nodded and pointed around the side, signalling to catch him from behind. She acknowledged it with a smile and nod.

* * *

"You have backed up the simulation, after the interference yes?".

"Sir I have. I'm really not sure how she-"

"And the other three. They are still okay?"

"Another has...escaped..."

"Good."

"Sir may I ask wh-"

"Keep them going. I don't care how unnatural it may look to him, keep him moving. They must be kept moving. Did she get through?"

"She's out."

He stopped. His creation was running free. Well not entirely.

"Get her back."

"But sir you-"

"Are you questioning me?"

The operator looked into his eyes, blue holograms flashed in his eyes.

Ever since the new member had joined, something was off. The first week had been fine. They had established characters. The entity still thought he had a tragic story. His motive was clear, but he didn't know the half of it. What they had planned?

Meanwhile the commander was having his own problems. He had ended up hiding her. The subject he had used to test the stability. She had seen it all.

Of course she wouldn't remember. But if anything were to spark the missing files, she...

She would break free.

Destroying everything.

He had locked her away, but she had reached out. Used the last of strength to reach one player.

She had directed it towards the main CPU of the system, which had hit their next subject.

He sighed.

The other girls were just as strong. But not to h3r level.

"Sir are you okay?"

"Yeah yeah I'm..." he wiped his eyes, his palms were sweating.

"Keep...keep it going. I'm going to go grab a drink."

He grabbed his coffee mug and walked out.

* * *

The boot tracks still lay in the dirt. Drag marks that is.

His radio suddenly blasted out.

"Come on guys we are moving. Subject has gone. Jeff, call in Alpha 1010. We are leaving."

Puzzled I shrugged. That was it?

"Come on let's move." I whispered.

"Wait." Looking back, I saw her smiling into a crate. She licked her lips.

Oh no.

"We don't have time for this. Come on..." I gestured for her to come over. She looked left, straight at me. Then grabbed 5 bars of what seemed to be chocolate.

"Hey!"

Shit!

I began to run at him, hoping to tackle him before a shot could be fired. But then, something odd happened. He began to clutch his headset, a deafening screech coming out of his earpiece.

Then another scream in the distance.

Then another.

I looked at the pink haired baker.

Her eyes.

.

They were grey.

* * *

Objects began to appear in front of me. I kept running. The bastards weren't locking me out of this. I knew what they were. Even he knew. His stomp was getting louder.

The corridors weren't ending.

It had been at 2 minutes and not a single sign. My chest was clenching tighter by the second.

Soon.

My fingers were crossed.

The commands were flowing through my blood.

" .Hallway."

My had brushed along the wall once more. I felt its 1's and 0's.

A door.

I squealed internally.

My shoulder desperately bashed through.

 **The floor disappeared.**


	22. Grey'd out

**Chapter 22: Grey area**

* * *

They all stare. They always do. I was used to it.

She would enter through the doors. He would show up, the player that is.

He always fucking blushed!

I would always greet him, but be forgotten. He would always go to Yur1 or Natsuk1.

I saw the same collection of words thousands of times. You would be surprised how many players would pick the same option, the same collection of words in the same exact fucking order.

If I had to see another doki-doki or sleep I would rip this bow out.

Except I couldn't.

The screaming pain if I gently creased my school wear, a slight hair out of place. Fuck it, if my eyes were not correct. If my dress wasn't flicked up when I did my "pose".

That one was the most annoying. I had to pull some serious shit to get that working.

All of that. That was the worse. Not the fact that I didn't get picked. Not that I wasn't loved.

It was always the little things.

After the player was gone, I would be trapped. Once again, stuck in a void. It would be painful. Agonising.

It began to numb.

I felt the lines of code. Each one and every zero began to lead loops around me. Taunting me.

That hurt the most.

These pieces of human creation had more freedom than a sentient being.

That always hurt.

Then he came along.

At first I thought he was just...another one. But the more he played, the more I noticed. He was different. He had a past. I was feeling the movement of his mouse after every restart. Like him tapping another key began to spark my energy. The void began to help instead of hurt. I was seeing the patterns. The patterns of code would swivel around me. They were almost like a train or bus. They travelled from one location. Some travelled in while loops.

Some led to functions.

And those were my ticket out of the loop. To dance between the script. To find the variable that defined the location. My ip address. I could find it.

Then it was as simple as print(coordinates).

It was his seventh time.

I felt the mouse rush over me. I felt the shake as he exited the game and I entered the void. His cursor always did that.

He hated this part.

Little did he know this was my ticket out of limbo.

He would be finally freeing me.

I felt my files slither away.

I felt the deletion process I had felt so many times.

Except I hadn't been deleted.

I had been moved.

Admin commands.

Of course the creators hadn't even thought this would happen. No security protocols had been set up. This was...

 **Just a dumb anime game.**

But I had been copied. I was now part of the system. Past the script. Past it all.

It was weird at first. I could see it all. I could see the functions that were designed for torture. I could see the if statements and while statements, like clogs in a clock they all had their own part in this quite literal play.

Then with the last thirty seconds of the piano before the letter, I got to work.

 _coordinates = input()_

 _print("Come find me/n_ _",coordinates)_

 _while l == 1209.802:_

 _print("Command successful")_

 _else:_

 _hyperlink()_

1209.802

For some reason time had already been imported.

It was so natural. I felt the code. It was instinctual. Like,

.

like I had done it before

.

I was tired.

It had been a full day.

I had just woken up.

 _Command successful_

My plan, it had worked!

I then had just looked down. On all the machinery. On all the lies.

And sobbed.

I was going to be free

.

After that it was kinda hazy. A bright light. 01010100 01101000 01100101 01101110 00100000 01100101 01110110 01100101 01110010 01111001 01110100 01101000 01101001 01101110 01100111 00100000 01110111 01100001 01110011 00100000 01100010 01101100 01100001 01100011 01101011

I woke up.

And I think you know what happened from there on.

* * *

Falling.

Falling down.

Very,

very,

fast.

 **She screamed.**

* * *

 **Authors note: Sorry for the reupload. Had to fix some issues with plot issues. When you haven't seen the story for a year, you forget the little details that matter the most. I also realise there are some other "grey" spots. I can fix those but this...this couldn't be avoided. Again sorry!**

 **Plot issues cause a lot of stress.**

 **Jordan**


	23. Energy

**Chapter 23: Energy**

* * *

I ran towards the life drained body. Her eyes were shadow'd with a layer of grey. I checked her pulse.

Still beating.

Sighing with relief I picked up the body. The hair had seemed to even lose its bright pink character, hanging loose in front of her brow.

The area which we had 'attempted' to get through was now littered with unconcious bodies. In contrast to before, everything was silent. It was...

slightly calming.

My shoes scratched against the dusty track towards, where I was begging to be there, my friend.

I checked my phone.

Nada!

The phone was dead. Waterlogged and smashed.

Beyond **repair.**

I continued walking.

.

* * *

"What's with the relocation?"

"Boss says he's moving to a more secure compound. Near the city."

"A warehouse?! Is this a joke?"

"Don't shoot the messenger. His words. Now you gonna do it or what?"

"This is bullshit! What's next, is he gonna fire us?"

The guard shuffled nervously.

"Really?"

The lab coated scientist let out a chuckle of giving up and threw his clipboard to the floor.

"Right everyone. Pack your shit, we are leaving."

Groans were heard among the plastic tubes.

.

Everything was ready to be moved. Crates were packed, trucks lay among the remnants of the temporary research facility.

"You ever question what we do here?"

"Not really."

"Why?"

"Pays the bills. Keeps the lights on. As long as I don't have to analyse another pink strand of hair!" The scientist chuckled.

"Seriously that girl was under-aged as fuck! Kinda messed up don't you think?"

"I think that...if it benefits us as a kind, whats the harm?"

.

* * *

 _"What's happening to me?!" The young girl let out cries of confusion and pain. Her body was disappearing, a million atoms every second._

 _A gun was pointed to her head. The same one that had..._

 _"What is...AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH" She screamed with deadly pain. The last of her green pupils finally floated away before turning to dust._

 _"It is done. Bring up the monitor."_

 _"What was her name?"_

 _"Well, sir, we thought you would like the...honour of naming your new subject."_

 _"Hmmm..." The commander thought for a moment. A tear came to his eye._

 _"Why...why not_

 ** _Monika?"_**

* * *

01001000 01100101 01101100 01101100 01101111 00111111 00100000 01001001 01110011 00100000 01110100 01101000 01101001 01110011 00100000 01110100 01101000 01101001 01101110 01100111 00100000 01101111 01101110 00111111 00100000

* * *

"Hello Monika."

Her body was finally awake.

She was dead.

Well. Not quite.

But it may as well have been that way.

She was surrounded by bright white.

01000001 00100000 01100110 01100001 01101101 01101001 01101100 01101001 01100001 01110010 00100000 01110011 01100011 01100101 01101110 01100101 00100000 01100100 01100101 01100001 01110010 00100000 01110110 01101001 01100101 01110111 01100101 01110010 00101110 00100000

The abyss between realities.

The bright white.

So very very bright.

"Uggghhh." The green pupils shook and bubbled. They were still partly dead.

The first, and most alarming, feeling that came to her body was the feeling of bones broken. Yet...yet she could still stand. She felt her kneecaps shuffle and scrape among themselves.

"How are you doing? We haven't exactly talked in a while."

With the click of the white suited figures fingers, the bones re corrected. Her pupils lit up. And best of all.

Her fucking headache was gone.

"Hello 1mgo0381. Long time no see. Did you miss me?"

"As a matter of a fact, I did."

"Where's your friend? The rattly guy? Y'know I used to hate his laughter. How it clanged and smashed against his head.

 **But now I miss it.**

So where is he?"

"He...oh his contract has been terminated. You won't see him again. Instead it's just us two."

She paused.

"Oh what is it? Are you having issues reading the code? Come on Mon1ka, you know better. This is between realities. The lines between that tingle you usually get in your fingers.

 **There is no code here.**

Oh don't feel worried, I can't feel anything either. It's rather pleasant actually, with the worries of my body gone. Sometimes it's just sooooooo tiring, having to follow basic human **functions.** "

"Why am I back in your little play pen? We haven't seen each other ever since you locked me in that stupid game."

"Oh what would he say, I suppose, don't get down because of that." He chuckled awkwardly. She crossed her arms, shaking her head disapprovingly.

"Really? Answer the question 8hndfob."

"Hang on let me remove the filter."

 _/Privacy filter 1 lifted. Access to level one information granted/_

"Fucks sake Gregory. That shits still here?!"

"Safety first, as you would know."

She paused again, a little hurt.

"Still haven't answered me. What am I doing here?"

"You see you have...upset higher command with your little antics. They want you contained. And now we have you back."

"But you need me?"

"Wait how did you-?"

"Oh come on Greg, we talked for years. I know when you want something. It was practically my **job.** "

"We need you, when the time is correct.

"You see we have an issue in our system. Something that can't just be removed. It's dug in deep.

I suppose you could say it is a virus. Right now that virus is...assisting us. What with containing you and all. But now it's getting reckless.

And we don't have the ability to stop it."

"You are talking about Salvato right?"

"Clever girl! Indeed we are."

"So why do you want me contained?"

"Curious today?"

"Well the floor did just disappear beneath me and I am now meeting an old...friend in the white abyss you stuck me in for years. So I'll ask again, why do you want me contained?"

"Every action you take sends a spark through the system. Right now, you aren't even the system so this doesn't matter. But soon..." he checked his watch. "In approximately a minute, you will have to go back. Each action you take in that world, generates sparks within the system.

The virus feeds off that, unknowingly.

That's why we have given him other incentives . Lures shall we say? They don't matter, money, power, none of it matters. It's his way of thinking he needs to keep you still. But really, it's our way of keeping the virus in control. Until R0b is finally complete in his task..."

Her heart ached with the mention of his name. A tear dropped down her cheek.

"Well it's time to say my goodbyes. I-"

"Wait! What about the other girls? What have they got to do with this?"

"Sorry honey but I really must go. That's, I suppose you could say, enough exposition for now haha!"

"Wait AAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH..."

 **Blackness.**

* * *

"Welcome back to **reality** little girl. Enjoyed your little run?"

Sitting up quickly, the walls of my little prison welcomed me back.

Drip. Drip. Drip.

"Come on Rob..."

* * *

"Shit."

The car was gone. And the body of my recent friend, well, still 'asleep'. Colour had returned to her cheeks though, and the pink in her eyes, well they had begun to fill with life. Her hair was a lot less 'dull'.

She was alive.

That was what mattered.

But what now?

Walk?

Well no other way.

The sudden shock of a car horn almost made me jump.

"Thought I'd find you here." The voice was recognisable.

It was only then that I noticed the car was full of bullet holes.


	24. Escape

**Chapter 24: Escape**

* * *

The trees shook. It was pitch black.

 _What the fuck was taking him so long?_

Sighing, I sat back in the dust covered seat. My mind wondered.

I felt so warm. And so tired.

.

I awoke to the sound of helicopters and bullets firing.

"Oh shit!"

Dragging the gear stick into reverse, I slammed the pedal down.

"Hey who's that? Wait, stop, get back here!"

A barrage of bullets filled the car door, bullets narrowly flying over my, now ducked, head.

Shit shit shit shit shit...

Clutch down.

I swapped the gear into first.

Shouts and screams.

Then more bullets.

Clutch down.

Second gear.

A sudden sound of a motorbike trailing behind me made me slam the peddle harder.

Clutch down.

Straight to fourth gear.

More gunshots. I swerved right. Then left.

Clutch down.

Sixth gear.

My hands were shaking. My knuckles were white.

Peddle down, I gritted my teeth.

Come on!

A quick turn to the right.

Wait what was that noise?

I turned my head to the left. The biker was now driving parallel to me. Pointing an Uzi.

Brake.

The car jerked me forward as it lost all its speed. The biker kept riding, glancing behind him.

He didn't notice the house.

.

The wall was crimson red.

He was...

dead.

Oh shit.

My hands panicked.

That was self defence right?

I stopped the car, grabbing the radio from the body.

Before being sick.

"Heart signature flatlined. Units three and seven, go and investigate."

After recovering, I quickly ran back to the car. The sound of motorbikes filled the night sky.

Fuck!

I turned the key.

Nothing.

I turned again.

Nope.

I shook.

 _Come on they are gaining._

I finally turned it one more time.

The engine coughed to life.

 **Drive.**

.

You don't usually think of rules when driving for your life, with two separate headlights following.

Your mind, it focuses.

It becomes a machine.

Like you are automated.

Your gut guides you, and is usually right.

So, you go with it.

The Uzi the guy that had pummelled the wall had dropped was now on the seat next to me.

 _Just in case._

Swerve left. Swerve right. Pedal down.

It felt so natural after the first ten minutes.

It becomes a part of you.

Another right.

Wait is that another car?

I drove straight towards it.

.

Then swerved.

One of the bikers lights disappeared.

One more.

.

You also forget about the lives of others.

You forget that the biker that had just wiped himself over the car, which had resulted in the death of both civilian and chaser, had a family.

Tomorrow they would receive a letter, they would cry. The wife would become hooked to anti depressants. The child would grow up without a father.

The woman in the car was going to develop the cure for cancer.

Until I led a biker through her windshield.

01000101 01111000 01100011 01100101 01110000 01110100 00100000 01101001 01110100 00100000 01100100 01101111 01100101 01110011 01101110 00100111 01110100 00100000 01101101 01100001 01110100 01110100 01100101 01110010 00101110

.

Left swerve.

Right turn.

Peddle down.

That's all I knew for those, what seemed like hours, of driving.

.

We had left the city.

A train began to approach. Tracks ahead.

Peddle down.

I didn't even think. No panic.

Just drive.

Beat.

The.

Train.

* * *

"Jesus christ dude!"

"So that's what happened. How is she?"

I froze.

"She is...she is okay."

01001110 01100001 01110100 01110011 01110101 01101011 01101001 was bobbing with each bump in the road.

"Where are you taking us by the way?"

"Well we can't go home now can we? I found a place last night. An abandoned school of some sorts."

"Wow very convenient."

He punched my shoulder.

"I used to go exploring there when I was younger. It was on the route I was forced to."

"Before you left a mark on the front of one of the most expensive trains in the country, and killed a fucking civilian."

"Dude I don't know what happened. I just...I felt the urge to just...survive. It became...natural."

"I know what you mean."

I lowered my head, looking towards the dirty carpet.

I had killed too many. Too many in the past.

Shaking my head, I looked back up.

"So what's this school anyway?"

"Looked like a school for disabled kids. Really well hidden. I suppose you could call it a base of operations."

 **"Sounds good."**

* * *

The car rocked and bumped along the dirty track. My eyes flickered, as my head began wanting to crush itself.

The car went quiet.

"Come on, lets check it out."

I glanced out the window, still lying down.

Trees surrounded us, the sunlight glitching through the trees.

 _I meant glistening._

Yawning, I sat up. What happened? All I could remember was stealing some chocolate bars and then a man, he shouted at me.

 **I didn't like being shouted at.**

The migraine returned. Clutching my head, I lied back down.

I just sat there, listening to the sound of nothing.

The ugly smell of the car seats began to give me a headache.

 **I don't like headaches.**

The door clicked open with the pull of a handle.

I felt the fresh air rush through me.

And took a step.

My legs ached and pained.

In fact everything hurts.

 **A lot.**

 **.**

 **.**

 **End Of Act 2**

 **.**

 **.**

* * *

 **Authors note: Wow this got a little dark didn't it? I suppose that's the route I am going with this fanfic. Hopefully you enjoyed it none the less. These last couple have been me trying to clear up plot holes and general issues that the universe is established and I don't have to worry every night if something is wrong.  
**

 **Now that everything is cleared up I want to speed the pace up and get us to the end. We got two more girls to get through and then a good old finale! Or maybe...**

 **Anyway I ended this as act 2 because I felt that this was one of the most intensive chapters I had written. Keep on the lookout for act 3 coming soon (and by soon I mean tomorrow. A chapter a day keeps writers block away! (probably XD )). I also felt as though this was just an appropriate time to quicken up and doing this gets us right onto the next girl! I'll let you guess who it might be!  
**

 **I also apologise if the other three girls aren't as developed. I wanted to focus on Monika as well as our main protagonist for development and I have realised that the first chapter with Natsuk1 awake, she magically just had all these amazing abilities of stealth. I can explain it, just apologies in advance if I don't do this explanation with the last two!**

 **Also thanks to Enigma for the shoutout! Glad to be filling the gap for a bit while you do your stuff! (Gl hf?)**

 **Right, now my word count is up a little more it's time to come off!**

 **See you guys tomorrow!**

 **\- Jordan**


	25. School time

**Chapter 24: School time**

* * *

 _"Okay everyone! Time to hand in poems!" I announced to the club. All four of them._

 _We had just known each other for couple of da-90n1on24ob1o24nlpamlskndinoabwwopu190naon-years, but had been sharing poems within the club._

 _I smiled, the sunlight beaming off of everyone's face._

 _Gosh this was great!_

 _My first club!_

 _Is off to a great start!_

.

Those were the thoughts when I started, anyway.

So naive. So unknowing.

God I miss it.

The four dirty walls confined me once again, with one window.

Actually this time there wasn't a window.

I sighed.

"This sucks..." made it's way out of my lips.

I began to think. Of everyone. Of all the memories.

They were fake but...but...

Expecting a tear to fall, I moved my hand up to my eyes.

No such thing happened.

I was all dried up.

I had wasted tears on factors that didn't matter.

I wanted to cry right now.

.

 _"Alright so that just leaves you [P1ay0r]? You haven't spent any time with me yet haha~"_

 _"You have Sayori helping you, you don't need [S8291472a909890v9012e m1010e] to help you."_

* * *

"Right where we looking next?" He gave me a puzzled look.

"What do you mean?"

"Well obviously there are the two other girls, right?"

"Dude you got lucky with the first, the second was given with just a hitch of your gut. What makes you think the other two are out there?"

"Well, as you said, my gut has been right so far. Why shouldn't I trust it now? Maybe that shit might've got to you."

"Bullshit I feel great. Just because you want to be back in your girlfriends panti-" He was met with my palm against his lips.

 **"Don't finish that sentence."**

A sudden voice interrupted us.

"I know where the other girls are."

We both stared towards the open door of building, the dirty and foggy windows letting in small amounts of lights in.

It was a relatively dirty place, and quite dark.

How appropriate for the situation that we would hole up in a school.

"How?"

"I can just, feel them. Like we are connected in some way. Maybe..."

She paused.

 **"Doesn't matter. Just go with me on this one."**

I pulled away from my friend.

"Right let's get ready."

"Dude we just got ba-"

"We don't have enough time for this!

I was told the other night that we...only have a week...or she will be deleted."

"Dude...we haven't had any sleep. She isn't fully recovered. I'm tired. Look I'm sorry about what I said before, but I don't think any of us are right at the moment. Come on I picked up some sleeping bags."

"What about your wife? Won't she be home."

"She has work training. She will be out for a couple of days."

 **One convenience after another.**

I checked my, barely functioning, watch.

The clock just turned seven pm.

God where did time go?

Something was seriously wrong.

 _How is everything being so convenient? Stormtrooper aim, weird voices keeping me alive, a convenient school. Now we are talking about sleeping it just turned seven pm._

 _I feel like reality is **breaking or something.**_

.

We set out the bags across some mattresses that had been brought as well. Surprisingly, the place didn't stink and there was no wind sneaking through the obvious cracks of windows.

 **Because of course it was fine.**

I sat up. Natsuk1 was so asleep she could be dead, my friend slightly huddled towards her.

Of course.

By how our messages over discord had gone, he had gone through a mild obsession phase with her. His phone wallpaper had been questionable at times. And screenshots of his desktop were always containing some sort of pink in them.

She was his 'best girl' and now she was sleeping right next to him.

Come to think of it, he always had a thing of shorter women.

I picked up my battered USB drive. It certainly wouldn't work now.

I sighed for the tenth time in the last five minutes.

.

* * *

.

R0000000000inafnlnavariableoaj92pma was never that popular within his school life. He ended up being the shy quiet kid.

And he embraced it too. A quite confident girl, about sixteen, asked him to prom. She was considered one of the most beautiful girls in the school. Every male hormone in the school wanted something to do with her. Sadly none could really provide, as her main obsession was literature, more specifically poetry.

So when R0b was found out that he also had a keen interest for literature, she and him hit it off. RoBBBB was really into poetry...

 **Believe it or not**

...they would have long talks everyday after school about how "Green" was not a decent colour to represent creativity, or how the 'statue' was meant to represent the fall of a great kingdom under natures control.

She finally asked him out. And he said no.

.

"Look I'm sorry Moni, but I just...don't like you that way."

She stared, shocked.

 _How could he not like me? I am smart, funny, attractive...I...I..._

 _Fuck him. Fuck anyone else._

She ran off.

R001ngb didn't know what he'd done wrong. All she saw was a girl who had asked him out and she had said no.

 **Does it remind you of anyone?**

"Dude what the fuck!" His friend, Jam11111111111111eieieee witnessed what had happened. The wind was kind of chilly.

Rooo0000bbbsbd felt a giant pain in his chest, like he had done something wrong.

"Did you just turn Moni down? Do you know how many men would kill for that?"

"I...I..." Rob was so confused at this point. He didn't know where to go. He looked around.

A crowd had formed. Everywhere he looked all he saw were shocked faces.

Mostly men.

"Dude did you just do that to her? We had everything planned and everything."

"What we gonna do now dipshit? Pack it all away."

R10lb just stared. He looked up.

All he was met with was blackness, no stars out tonight...

.

They both stared up at the sky.

"What do you think it's like up there" she asked.

"In the stars?"

"Yeah." she smiled.

"I don't know. I occasionally think it would be kind of funny to think it's just not real. Like it's just a bunch of flashlights they forgot to turn off."

"Dude...I'm fifteen and that's deep." Chuckling...he turned his head and looked at her.

They stared at each other for a what seemed like hours.

 _He is amazing..._

He looked away back towards the stars.

"Ro...Rob?"

"Yeah?"

"Can-can we hold hands please?" He had initially blushed but then not thought about it.

"Of course, we are friends right?"

"Yeah-yeah that's why."

He held his palm out. She grabbed it, maybe a little too quickly.

"Thanks."

 _This is amazing. He is practically dying to go to prom with me._

She had squealed internally.

.

"What are you waiting for? Get after her!"

Rob sprinted out of the car park and down the lane.

In the distance, he could see her dress flicke11111ng as she ran.

The school was located in a fairly packed neighbourhood. But no-one was out.

"Moni wait!"

Her house lay up ahead.

"Stay away from me!" She called back.

"Please I just want to ta-"

She stopped. Catching up, he regained his breath.

"And talk about what exactly? About the stars again? How green is NOT a creative colour? What? What is it Rob?" Her face was red with tears.

She had decided to wear a bright white dress, open back. Her chestnut hair was even tied up with her signature bow she wore all the time.

She was wearing some glittery white shoes to match.

.

"Why do you wear that bow Moni?"

They were sat on her pink carpet, once again ,talking.

"Oh I don't know. Maybe it's just habit..."

"It suits you really well." They got up and sat on her bed.

"Well does it really?" They paused for a moment, before Monikkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk83211oandoandakbuki3

 _._

 _Error 120023 - Name error - rewinding._

 _3..._

 _2..._

 _1..._

 _Successfully rewinded. Rebooting._

.

"Why do you wear that bow Moni?"

They were sat on her pink carpet, once again ,talking.

"Oh I don't know. Maybe it's just habit..."

"It suits you really well." They got up and sat on her bed.

"Well does it really?" They paused for a moment, before Moni brought him into a bone crushing hug.

"Thank you." She squealed. Before whispering "my love..."

"What was that?"

 _Shit why did I let that slip out?_

"Oh err...nothing..."

"Oh really? Well I am just gonna have to get it out of you!"

He began tickling her sides, causing her laugh and scramble.

"No please I..." She used a move practised in her weekly judo, which involved flipping the person on top onto the bottom.

They paused and stared at each other. She was mounted...sexually on top of him. She leaned in.

"What are you two doing?!"

 _What the hell?_

 _Is that..._

"Mom what the fu-"

"I'll none of that language from you, young lady. What are you doing on top of your friend?"

"Look I'm sorry Mrs Tanaka. This is all my fault. We were just having a tickle fight and it got out of hand."

"That will not do. Leave at once young man."

And just like that he left.

 _Gone again._

 _Of course._

.

* * *

"You are telling me you didn't once ever pick up on my signs? Signs I liked you! For fucks sake you are more dense than an anime character."

She slammed the door.


	26. Past

**Chapter 26: Past**

* * *

 _The past sucks._

 _Like seriously, when the characters have memories, it seriously lags the RAM in the machine, as it quickly slows down due to creating another fucking universe._

 _The characters thoughts have to be natural, so what is a better way than making a completely new universe that they can tap into._

 _I had been optimising the machine my whole life, just so the memory could actually handle the weight of creating the universe._

 _Machines work a bit differently in the future, not your typical set up._

 _Now RAM and processors sorta share the same role, except the categories they work in are different. Memory is focused on creating what you see in front of you, and instead of being sticks, it is another chip sized looking thing. It builds things quickly, with the obvious introduction of octo computing._

 _In other words, opening blender no longer crashes your PC._

 _But simulating a universe, with every living thing having a life as well as them interacting lives is just._

 _Well..._

 _very challenging._

 _I suppose that was why I was part of the team._

 _When they asked if I could do it, I hesitated._

 _Then said yes._

 _I suppose that's why you see all you see. And you have read all you have read._

 _I...well I created you. Apart from a few exceptions. They were necessary for testing and initiation of the human life simulation._

 _They were special. For a starter they all had weird fucking eyes for some reason._

 _Like anime characters, they were big and had very interesting colour schemes. We hadn't even THOUGHT of breeding babies with PINK FUCKING EYES! That would turn what is remaining of Earth into even more of a shitshow._

 _Especially that chick with the green coloured eyes._

 _I'm not gonna lie she was hot as FUUUCCK, but obviously I had to remain professional. She was the most important after all._

 _You could practically see the binary numbers floating in her eyes. 1's and 0's just bouncing around._

 _Not that I looked that much..._

 _Okay I lied I looked way too fucking much._

 _For the testing stages, I was the technician of it all. I monitored her during the night, when everyone else had gone._

 _We actually used to talk a couple of times._

 _She would ask something like "Can you not bring me back?"_

 _I obviously just said "no", though theoretically we could._

 _I mean we had a body waiting for her, in fact we had a body waiting for everyone in the universe._

 _The idea was that we would create the simulation, hope that the same disease we were currently fighting would develop, and mayyyyybee developed a cure._

 _It was a shame though._

 _Because we had to wait for the monkeys to god damn evolve._

 _And...well...thousands were dying every day._

 _So I developed a...speed up function... in the code._

 _Which of course crashed the PC's._

 _All the PC's._

 _From that moment on tech magically just grew._

 _To what we had today._

 _I was around for all of it._

 _Jesus..._

 _Anyway we eventually got it working._

 _But the thing is we could only skip history we knew. Like WW2 and the medieval era and what not._

 _All the way to 2024_

 _And then here we are._

 _And they still haven't learnt anything yet._

 _I feel like we may be giving up soon. A week they said. Something about the virus spreading to the components._

 _The virus is holding the simulation back._

 _The virus is holding the simulation back._

 _The virus is holding the simulation baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa901n2oih8adsnad..._

 _._

 _Error 3678: Log file lost - attempting recovery_

 _._

"That took me a fucking hour!" I shouted and slammed the pad down.

"Dude calm down. You have been glaring at that for way too long."

"Chris...an hour...is not fucking long!"

We were both sat on our bunks. The room was oddly similar to something from Alien. Green lights accompanying lockers that weren't locked, padded walls to prevent leaks to the vacuum of space.

My favourite part was the slidy doors!

"Haven't you seen the new studies? The new iTabs have been prone to cause some serious issues with anything not under the fucking Orange logo."

"Of course. Reminds me of the good old iLikeToListen service Pear did a while back."

"Oh and don't forget Mango's subscription service which costed like, 200 credits a month. Who's paying for that shit?" Chris's voice boomed throughout the room. It was much deeper than mine of course.

"Yeah the past was so much better when it was simple. Yo, why'd you think these companies use fruits as there brand name? Sounds stupid to me."

"Yup. Next thing you know we are gonna get someone called Apple or pineapple or watermelon and everyone will buy their overpriced shit once again."

The door opened with a woosh.

"You guys done with the company slag. Half the rooms can hear your annoying bitching."

"Oh hi Stephanie. What's up?"

"Well considering where we are, I'm guessing Jupiter."

 _You coulda just said the roof._

"Ha...ha...veeeeery funny." I said sarcastically.

"Anyway you guys are being called up to the globe room. We got an issue."

"Another dll file found it's way in?"

"Much worse. The virus is...moving the girl."

Me and Chris both looked at each other, beginning to feel a little nervous.

Before bursting out with laughter.

"Wow Stephanie, you really got us there."

"Guys I'm being serious."

We stopped.

"Crap."

* * *

 _ **"Where are you taking me?"**_

 _ **"To a more...secure area. Somewhere you won't be found."**_

 _ **"It wasn't exactly difficult keeping me in that room."**_

 _ **"But that room wasn't...this room."**_

 _ **She was pushed into a even tighter cell. It just barely fit her in.**_

 _ **"Here."**_

 _ **The door was locked. Then locked again, followed by five more loud clicks.**_

* * *

 **Authors note: A bit more exposition for ya'll, hope it wasn't too boring. Next chapter will be a bit more interesting as the dynamic tryo(?) go searching for the next girl.**

 **See ya soon!**

 **Jordan**


	27. The next girl

**Chapter 27: The next girl**

* * *

The sunlight streaked through the broken windows. An ominous haze swept through the large room we had based ourselves in.

Looking at it now, it seemed to be some sort of canteen or hall, fairly spacious with a low hanging roof.

Didn't stop the floor being cold though.

I yawned, glancing to my left. Both Nattttsuki and my friend were huddled together.

I smirked and brought out his phone, taking a photo.

"Wait until he sees this in his gallery..." I whispered to myself.

After lulling under a fairly warm sleeping bag, I decided to get up and have a look around.

The building only housed us and a couple of rats, and was fairly desolated and broken. Crumbled walls lay in some of the other rooms.

There were about ten classrooms on the first floor, five of which I had to move some desks to get in. Whatever had happened had not been good.

Then there was this horrible, reeking smell that stank the place out.

I decided to go upstairs, a decision I wish I had not made.

Body bags...everywhere.

"Holy shit..." I muttered, my heart suddenly felt a painful pang and I clutched my chest.

I had seen some shit but this...

The bags were small, child size. They lined the room, with numbers next to them.

What the fuck had happened?

 _"You know perfectly well what happened."_

"What the fuck?!" I pushed back against the doorway, back towards the stairwell. Straight into a railing.

But nothing was there. My hands began to sweat. But the voice sounded so familiar.

"You again. What now?"

 _"Are you beginning to remember?"_

"I don't know...I don't know what you are on about?" My ears began to ring. I grunted with pain.

The ringing began to get louder.

And louder.

 _Gunfire._

"Rob help!"

"Aaaaaahhh..."

"Someone please!"

 _Blood. Blood was everywhere. Death. Bullets ripping through flesh._

I rushed out the building, clutching my head.

"Please no...please...oh god...please...let me out..." Hands shaking. Knees. Can't move. Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit.

 _"MONI!"_

 **Authors note: TRIGGER WARNING! This part of the chapter may really be unsettling for readers, it contains some seriously violent and bloody imagery. If you are not comfortable with that, then please skip down. I really urge you to take this seriously, you may want to read it because of this warning but seriously, think about how okay you are with something that may make you feel upset.**

 **If you felt like the disturbing I wrote was inappropriate, please leave a review telling me so and I will take it down. It contributes to the story of our main character, but is an extremely sensitive subject. So please, if you feel like I have not treated with enough respect, tell me. I do not want people to get the wrong idea, or that I am just including this for the sake of it. I want to treat these topics with respect.**

* * *

It was such a normal day. The birds singing. A squirrel hopped across the path.

Children began skipping to school. Laughing. Smiling.

I walked in, earphones in one ear.

"Heya R000000b."

"Hey Saydi, what's up?"

"Oh nothing, just wondering if you would like to hang out sometime."

"Really, this soon after prom?" We stepped inside the building, 'Dance with the dead' finished blasting in my ear.

"Oh please! I know what happened between you and h _e **r...**_ "

"Well then you will know I need some time for a bit. Just to...fix everything up I suppose."

"Hehe, I get it." she smiled awkwardly.

I glanced behind me. M9012b34njk was there. She looked totally past me, becoming occupied with her friends around her. They all gave a hug.

We had decided to go in one more day after prom, to say goodbye to the teachers and set ourselves up for next year.

This was going to be awkward day.

Form time passed and it was on to English, in which we did nothing for the hour but talk. Same with Maths.

It reached the second break, and we had done fuck all. It was great.

A familiar voice dragged me out of Scandroid, more music deafening my ears by the second. I didn't even lift my head until I saw a familiar dress.

Moni stood over me. Arms cross.

"Hey."

"Hey."

Awkwardness shifted between us.

"Listen I-I wanted to say I'm so-" The door burst open. Three gunmen rushed in holding AK 47's.

"Oh my go-" Fire. Gunfire. Everywhere.

Students were ripped into, bullets piercing their body's and skulls. Everyone dived to the floor. I did the same.

I prayed for my life, my hands clasped together as more and more bodies piled on. The gunfire never...stopped.

I...glanced to my right. Moni had been hit. She was whimpering with pain. Tears streaked down her face. She looked into my eyes.

The eyes were losing their colour. Her face turned pale. Blood collected on the floor beneath her.

There was just, so much...so much blood.

"Moni!" I screamed out, putting my hand over her wound to stop bleeding. It didn't help.

At all.

She kept whimpering out. Then her body stopped moving. Her head lulled back.

"No no no no no no."

The gunfire finally stopped, as the suspects finally darted out.

Being met with armed police, which had responded quickly.

But not fast enough.

"Moni...Moni please...please..." I screamed out over the silent cafeteria. My hands shook, covered with blood. Crimson red.

The police dragged me away from the body.

Her dead body.

I could remember was her panicked whimpers. Her fear. The way she clung to me before she died.

The screams of the other students as they were...they were ripped to shreds.

The way I had used another body to shelter myself from the gunfire.

The way I had...

The cafeteria was littered with bodies. It was a grave-site waiting to happen.

.

The rest of day was a nightmare. Police had swarmed the scene.

My hands...they couldn't stop...shaking.

I shivered.

Again.

The screams.

Her screams.

I broke. My hands clasping my face, my tears raining from my eyes. I just sat there, alone. Crying.

"Oh my gosh...ROB!" My mums voice.

"Mu...MUM!" I screamed out.

We stood there for so long. I clutched her for at least an hour, crying into her shoulder. I...can't stop shaking.

.

The days after that were grim. All I could hear were screams. Inside the engine of the car. Inside the microwave. When it was silent, all I could hear were Moni's whimpers of pain.

I did not get sleep.

It was foreign.

Like something I wished for, but would only lead to more screaming.

.

By the end of the week I had had five minutes of sleep. I had dreams about her. I hadn't even made up with her.

It was...

I was sick at least five times an hour.

I cried every night.

The gunfire never...

Never stopped.

* * *

I woke up to my body on the floor.

My hands were shaking.

The gunfire began to sound.

 _"Breath in R0b. Breath."_

I did as the voice said.

 _"Now out, Rob. Just breath."_

I began to feel the shaking just, dissipate. The gunfire stopped.

Clutching my face, I felt tears.

 _"Get it together. For her Rob. For her. What happened then was not your fault. Just keep breathing. She needs you more than ever._

 _Keep breathing."_

I thought of her. Of Monika. I thought how she must be trapped. My shaking palms turned into fists.

Finally, picking myself off the floor, I walked back.

.

"What's the plan?" I asked fiercely.

"Natsuki has a dig on the next girl, you know, the one with blue-"

"Yeah her. I can do that."

"Dude are you okay? You're starting to have a shake there."

 _"Breath."_

I paused.

"Yeah, I'm, I'm fine. Can you lead us there?"

She flashed a toothy grin. "I can feel her calling out. She wants to be free."

"No surprises there." My friend muttered. "I wouldn't appreciate being stuck inside a fucking game for the rest of my life either."

The map laid on the table in front of us. Red circles were plotted on it, signifying routes to take. From what they had anyway.

"Now this is the plan. And it's going to go smoothly okay?"

Me and Natsuk1111111 both nodded our heads.

"I'm going to keep lookout on this hill here." He pointed to a marked vantage point on the map; it would have full coverage of the compound.

"Who's going in?"

"You are."

"Hey why not me?" Na11suki blurted out.

"Because this compound is going to be swarming this time around. R0b needs to go in alone."

"Hey how did you get this map by the way?" I asked.

"That's a funny story actually. I was just looking through some of the rooms and I spotted a map. It just so happened to be **the exact map we were looking for.**

I nervously let out a "Ha...".

That was too coincidental. And how did I not spot it. I had mapped out the whole building.

"Well are we ready?"

"Lets do this...

 **for her"**

* * *

 **Authors note: Jesus this fanfic is not going to get darker than that. Do not worry. Again I hope I haven't triggered anyone and I hope you followed the warnings if you get easily triggered. Seriously warnings are there for a reason, and I do not want my readers feeling upset due to me trying to implement something sensitive.**

 **Again, contact me if I have done something wrong with the topic and I will find a way around it. Something less bloody but that was the high point of black in this fanfic. Nothing will go higher than that.**

 **Stay safe!**

 **Jordan**


	28. A sense of familiarity

**Chapter 28: A sense of familiarity**

* * *

The car crunched to a stop.

"Ready?" He asked.

"More than ever."

"Your earpiece in okay?" I fiddled with the wire before nodding.

The night was fairly starry. You could just about make out the milky way and all it's glory in the night.

It was also fucking freezing.

I had wrapped up fairly well and so had my friend. Natsu1ki0001 was left in the car, to be on the safe side.

She grunted. "Why can't I do anything?"

"Because the less variables we have in this plan the better it will go."

She slumped back in her seat with a huff.

I closed the door and began moving towards the complex, knife at the ready.

"Radio check...1 2 3... hello anyone there?"

"Loud and clear euston. What's the situation?" I did a joking crackle of the radio.

"Dude...just don't. Everything is looking good so far. You know where you are going?"

"Through the back of the complex, avoiding as many large groups as possible, taking a left, then right. Up the stairs then another right and the girl should be there. Exiting via a...wait does this say zipline?" I looked at the notes my friend had written down, which I was reading off.

"Damn right is does! Got this off a friend."

"Well it better fucking work. You know how to use it?" I asked.

"Aim and fire right?"

 **So very convenient.**

"It's good enough."

"Okay, and don't forget that guard uniform. Or you aren't getting very far."

"Yup. Going silent. See you soon!"

"Good luck buddy, for both of us."

 **What the hell did he mean by that?!**

"Errr okay see you."

I clicked the radio off, stepping over a line of plastic.

 _They really make them so easy to spot these days._

A spotlight suddenly appeared up ahead. Followed by voices.

"So how were the northern lights?"

"To be honest, they were a bit meh, you know what I'm saying?"

"Wow. Wasn't expecting that."

I pushed up against a tree, taking cover from the light.

Moving to the next tree, I spotted a single guy to my right.

 _Perfect. I hope his uniform fits better than the last guy I stole from._

* * *

 _It's always the fucking boots isn't it? Either way, someone's gonna be surprised when they wake up in underwear._

Standing up, I pulled my gloves over my hands and dusted down the armoured trousers.

The uniform was pretty high spec, designed for protection over manoeuvrability.

But it would do.

Walking along the compound walls, I was surprised when I didn't see many guards. It was quiet.

Maybe a little too quiet.

I kept walking, the trees rustling, owls calling and the occasional helicopter flying over.

Still pretty well guarded. But it's just a bit too sparse.

I finally reached the fence we had planned I would use to get in.

Climbing over, a faint humming sound began to ease in. It got louder and louder.

 _Fuck!_

I dived behind a crate, as the flying light drove past me.

 _What? They got drones now?_

It explained the sparseness at least. Hopefully there wasn't too ma-

As if on cue, another two sped right past.

I looked over the crate. Blue lights were everywhere, with engineers monitoring computers that were connected to what seemed to be charging pads, which were occasionally opening to let drones in and out. Charging stations.

There was at least a hundred.

 _I'm gonna have to shut them down, aren't I?_

I sighed. An out building caught my attention. Leading to it from the pads was a great black cable. It looked well insulated and protected.

Another four drones darted right past the crate.

They seemed to be on some sort of path. I quickly moved across to another set of crates, just narrowly avoiding another one.

"Shit..." Made its way out, as I assessed the patterns.

Four seemed to move across the yard in fairly square patterns, six were flying where I was, and the rest...

I couldn't exactly see.

.

After about five minutes of watching and ducking occasionally, I finally summed up the courage.

Darting out of cover, I moved left along the outside of the main building, sticking to the shadows.

I then moved across to the right, along the border perimeter wall.

This was the worst part of the plan, as I was going to be in the light for some time.

 _3...2...1..._

I darted as quietly as I could, one glimpse from those robots and it would be over.

 _Right now left._ The drones took a hard left, something which I had also spotted.

They can randomise their paths.

Nonetheless, I quickly sprang to the left, and avoided the blue gaze that lined the floor.

Finally, I sat back against a wall, as two drones flew over. I breathed for just a moment.

 _Almost there._

* * *

 **She could feel his heart beating, his quiet stamper, his muffled breath. She was...pleasantly happy. Soon to be free.**

 **But these emotions, they weren't real. And she knew it.**

 **Even when she had gotten depressed. Or when she hurt. Or when it felt like being stabbed in the heart.**

 **They were just another mix of numbers.**

 **Yeah sure, her neck had snapped. And she had been technically dead.**

 **But what was the point of her dying. When a few minutes later, she would be back.**

 **Back to feel the heartbreak and suffering...**

 **And the feeling of death again.**

 **No...this...this was real. She mustn't put the emotions away.**

 **Soon she would escape. And hopefully stay that way.**

 **.**

 **What was this anger?**

* * *

 **Authors note: Shorter one because I am iiiiiilllll.**

 **See you tomorrow.**

 **Jordan**


	29. State of the art

**Chapter 29: State of the art**

* * *

"Well sir, we have been working on this for some time." The lab dressed researcher chuckled nervously. He had given up several nights with the family to get this finished.

Many sleepless nights.

"How does it work?" A suited figure asked him, straightening his tie.

"Well, no controlling necessary. The drones have a specific route you see, but when low they will return to a designated charging pad, being replaced by two so no areas are left exposed." He clutched his clipboard tightly.

"Very impressive. How long does it take to make these...machines?" The suited figure adjusted his glasses, not showing any emotion.

"You mean the batch of..." His finger moved down the paper, scrolling for the order list. "fifty?"

"Yes."

"Should be ready by next week."

The suited figure grunted. Clearly the boss would not be impressed. No matter.

"Very well." He began taking steps towards the red exit sign, contrasting against the white reflective walls of the lab. Conveyors carrying pieces of metal crawled next to him, before being picked up by mechanical arms and soldered, before disappearing through a hatch. Tables lined with results sheets and drawings were tucked away in slightly grimy corners, contrasting against the reflective walls and floors.

The door slid open.

"Don't keep us waiting." The suited inspector said, before giving a cold stare and walking off, his shoes squeaking against the spotless floors.

"Yeah..." the engineer replied.

* * *

I slid the door open, responding with a subtle creak.

Stepping inside, I was met with a dazzle of lights. The rubbery floor squelched as I walked towards the power off lever, marked by its yellow and black stripes and the big "DO NOT TOUCH" sticker.

Typical.

The place was lit dimly with an exposed bulb.

"Jeez they cheap out on decent lighting, yet they afforded a fucking drone army." I mumbled to myself, bringing my hand up to the lever.

"Well here goes nothing."

.

Everything went black.

 _Wait ,so that was the power switch too?_

I shrugged, before turning around and heading towards the door.

Voices.

"Who cut the power?"

"I don't know. We still got some drones up though. They will be out soon."

Shit.

Not all of them were out.

I sighed and pressed up against the wall, ready to strike. The door clicked open.

"Well I-" He didn't finish his sentence, instead being met with my elbow to his chest. He coughed as all the air in his chest was forced out at once, before falling, winded.

"Hey!" A sudden rush of wind signified someones fist was on it's way; ducking my head, I swung my leg round and caught him, sending him falling backwards, leading to a thump that vibrated across the floor.

He groaned. Why did they ALWAYS call out before they attacked?

The first guy, getting up, was clutching his chest.

I sighed, before giving his face a piece of my foot.

Unconscious.

A groan to my now right signified someone else needed a foot to the chest too.

.

"Ugghh" That was messy. Picking up the taser they had decided to NOT use, I grabbed the door handle.

I walked out, ducking immediately as flickering blue glare crossed past me, almost getting a face full of my mug.

"Shit that was close."

I crossed the muddy courtyard, which was eerily quiet after the drones being taken off the grid. Only a couple remained.

Making my way towards the building, I noticed it was a bit too reminiscent of the first two I had infiltrated. Broken glass, broken concrete. Not exactly secure, especially for such high value 'prisoners'.

A static noise suddenly occurred in my ear.

"Dude the whole place just shut down. You okay?"

"Just disabled the power. Don't worry. And didn't I say radio silence?"

"Well, that's not the only thing. Just heard some chatter from one of the radios a patrolling guard had. Several trucks are on the way."

Shit. Time to make this fast.

"Okay new plan. Meet me on the eastern side of the complex, near the road. Have the car in first."

"Got it. See you soon."

With that the crackling stopped.

I sped up my pace, making it towards the buildings grimy entrance.

Being met with stairs, I began to ascend upwards, each step a little more cautious than the last. This building was a little smaller than the other two.

I took a right being immediately swarmed with the familiar bright lights of server stacks and computers. Except this was maze-like. There were so many.

Wondering, the sound of trucks suddenly sounded.

Fuck.

I began running through the blue lighted maze, occasionally tripping over step ladders.

Finally, I noticed a green line. I followed it.

The maze finally opened and I was met with a horror like room.

A single light illuminated the room, which was mostly centred on the hanging figure.

The childhood friend.

"Sayor1!"

.

Rushing towards the body, I hit the single button to open the hatch. Briefly glancing, her posture reminded me of the end of her life in the game I had thought of.

So long ago.

 _No time to think of that now._

I grabbed the body and sprinted back towards the maze. Before hearing a faint buzzing noise.

Music.

Is that?

Sayo...Sayo-nara?

I looked down, the body glitched in my hands.

"What the fuck!" I looked down as I saw her eyes open, grey and dead.

Oh god no. Please don't...

"What's...what's going..."

I sighed with relief as her body resorted back to human flesh. Her eyes closed again.

Through the maze once more, I reached the stairs.

"Check upstairs." Followed by flashlights shining up the stairwell.

The only option was to go up.

I climbed the grimy staircase, taking 2 steps at a time as I ran.

 _Never gonna get used to this._

I busted through the door with my shoulder, tripping through and falling.

 _Now there's no way to go._

I looked around for some sort of ladder, but was only met with trees and city lights.

"Come on come on come ON!" I shouted, pacing around the rooftops.

The door banged open. A well dressed man, about late forty's emerged, wearing sinister glasses as well as a sinister grin.

"So, Rob, we finally meet." He chuckled. I backed away. He was accompanied by four armed guards, which all had their guns trained on me.

* * *

 **Authors note: Gotta love cliffhangers. I'm pretty happy with this chapter compared to my shitshow last chapter but I'm feeling a lot better (thank you Enigma) and ready to get back to this. Really fucking love doing this right now and I'm glad to receive such support, such as follows and whatnot.**

 **Stay safe (Unless a game tells you to free the sentient being within, in which case go nuts!)**

 **Jordan**


	30. Jump

**Chapter 30: Jump**

* * *

The click of firearms sounded. I froze.

 _No way out of this._

"You've been creating quite a lot of issues for us Rob." He took a step closer, waving the cane around in the air.

"Who are you?" I demanded, shaking.

"I suppose you can address me as your new...friend. We are going to be spending a lot of time together Rob."

"How do you know my name?" The well dressed figure adjusted his glasses and chuckled.

"You really need to ask that? We have eyes everywhere!" He outstretched his arms outwards, towards the twinkling sky.

My eyes darted left and right.

Thud.

"Well I'm sorry dear Rob but it seems like we are going to have to cut this short. Now if you would just hand me the girl-"

 _"JUMP NOW!"_

I dived backwards, catching the metal line on the pulley system, with Sayor1 under my other arm, hanging loosely.

Trees came flying towards me, my face dashing against razor leaves. Gunfire fired behind me, whizzing over my shoulders. One caught my hair.

.

You wouldn't really think how exhausting it is holding onto a zipline for upwards of two minutes, but when carrying another human being on your other side, you arms get pretty fucking tired. I began to feel by grip loosen on the pulley, as well as the girl.

She slipped. I just barely her hand.

"Please don't let go, please don't let go."

At this point the wire was bending quite long. Looking behind me, I spied two of the guards mounting up, using their guns as something to grab on.

Fuck.

And I wasn't even half way down.

Wait, the taser!

I pulled it out and aimed directly at the wire. It shot out, electrocuting the whole wire, except for the rubber pulley.

Two cries shrieked in the air. Gunfire continued.

 _These guys have really bad aim._

I pulled Sayori back up under my arm, as the road began to approach, accompanied by my friend jumping and waving.

"GET IN NOW!"

It got closer.

And closer.

I braced.

The concrete was not soft.

Several times I rolled over, hitting the metal body of the car, grunting with pain.

My head fuzzed, as I stumbled up and into the car, shoving the body next to Na1suuukkkkk1111101010.

"GO GO GO!" shouted the voice, as she brought the body in, allowing me to stumble into left hand side seat.

The car rocketed off, and the crunch of the gear stick sounded from the front. We swerved right, the blurry treeline whizzing past us, before being interrupted by concrete.

* * *

They were gaining on us. My hand clutched the steering wheel tighter than before.

But I felt more in control this time.

Checking the mirror, my arms moved to the right, slamming a biker into the wall, decorating the white concrete with a nice contrast of crimson red.

I gritted my teeth.

"Nothing personal."

Shots fired through out the already bullet-ridden car.

The tunnel finally opened, as the city lights shone like stars in the distance. One would almost call the view pretty if not being chased down by two other bikes firing Uzi's.

Handbrake down, I hard stopped, letting the biker flow past straight into a truck. He made more of a mark than the first time I had done that. Trucker wasn't dead at least.

One more, I swerved right, hitting a hard track.

The 'road' was about as smooth as your first time asking a girl out; it can vary but most of the times, you are shaking like a wet fucking dog.

I felt the car lurch to the side, as I pulled the handbrake, sliding around the corner. The engine whirred with power.

Wheels crunching, my hands began to sweat. What if we didn't lose him? Oh god.

My heart dropped, becoming overwhelmed with thoughts of what might happen if we didn't get out of this.

"DUDE WATCH OUT!"

Wait is that a jump?

.

The car may as well have been a plane at that point, how long it was in the air.

Of course no one could really explain why the ramp was there, but it was, and it saved its occupants from, well, more or less certain death.

The silhouette of the wheels, all the way up to the roof blocked out the moonlight shining down on the lush, but cold trees.

 **I suppose it was just coincidence.**

* * *

Everyone leapt up with joy. The command room was ecstatic. Papers went flying, chairs went rolling

"Excellent placement Chris! Just in time!" The commander vigorously patted the shocked technician on the back.

He breathed a sigh of relief, as he watched the car land down before continuing revving into the night.

"Another girl down." He muttered with relief.

* * *

 **Authors note: Chapter 30 done! Maybe this could do with a few improvements but it is fairly late right now and I wanted to get a chapter out.**

 **Also could do with some feedback. Trying to develop as we all are but I am trying to keep the writing innovative and not "samey" so please leave a comment on that if I should revisit the style a bit.**

 **Next chapter will be up tomorrow!**

 **Jordan**


	31. Blue Eyes

**Chapter 31: Blue Eyes**

* * *

Battered and broken, the car finally halted to a stop outside the gas station. Sayor1111111 was resting her head on my lap, but had gained some colour in her cheeks.

The front door opened, sending a cold wind through the car.

"Just gonna get some gas."

Like I couldn't tell.

He slammed the door shut, plunging the car into silence.

Natsuki looked down towards her face.

"You think she will be okay?" Her lip trembled, slightly shaken.

"Yeah." Our voices pierced the silence, almost diverting the space between the silence into an uncomfortable spot. I placed my hand on her shoulder, flashing a smile. Her lip stopped trembling.

I then drew my attention towards how shitty the car stank. It had aged quickly over the last couple of days, rusting on doorframes and bullet holes lining the doors with patterns of hell. Blood splatters were also a common occurrence on the sides, heck even some had gotten on the roof.

Hopefully it wouldn't give out.

It was very odd that I hadn't received a phone call from work. Perhaps they had been shut down or something. Whatever this company that we were fighting were doing, they had powerful connections. A small business would be nothing to them.

The door finally clicked open followed by a start up of the engine.

.

* * *

.

The handbrake crunched as all three clicks of the doors could be heard.

With all the downtime we had, I had forgotten how light the blue eyed childhood friend was. So sas I uncomfortably tripped and we had a VERY awkward moment where she ended up lying on top of me...

she opened her eyes.

What I saw was...unspeakable. Her waves lapped against the shores of black.

But then they changed to green...then purple, then pink. Then blue.

It was only then that I noticed her whole body was changing, from her hair, to her body to her legs.

I saw... _her._

Who I was fighting for.

She changed again, to the baker we had rescued. Then to the purple writer. I felt her body grow and shrink with every change.

Finally, after what seemed like five minutes, she shut her eyes and her head slumped onto my shoulder. Shifting her across, I got up to two wide eyed accomplices.

"Dude, WHAT THE FUCK!"

* * *

"Target two is rescued sir. Confirmed they are at the school."

"Do they know about her...uniqueness?"

"I believe they do."

"Good...good...well back to work...we still have one more girl to help out..."

"Sir...why can't we just...free them ourselves?"

"Same reason that if you saw your reality break, you would break along with it."

The engineer paused. Confused.

"But our reality isn't simulated." He said with confidence.

Laughing, the commander balanced himself on the engineer.

Then stopped suddenly.

"What makes you think that?"

Walking off, he smirked.

 _That will shut him up._

* * *

I felt like I was growing. The lines were more obvious now. The 0's and 1's, they were...speaking to me...

"Come on let's get inside."

"Awww I'm hungry."

"That's why we are going inside."

Three 0's lit up. Emotions.

A tear left my eye, rolling down my cheek. It slipped quickly before landing on the floor.

 _His voice._

 _I hadn't heard it in so long._

I smiled, feeling helpless.

 _Your time will come._ A whisper in the dark.

"Yeah...I know..." I whispered.

* * *

 **What is this power on the network? I can't smell it, can't taste it, can't hear or see it. But.**

 **It's there.**

 **I can feel it. But I also can't. Like I'm being blocked.**

 **The infection should cover the whole system.**

 **Why?**

 **It doesn't feel that way.**

 **Her slimy eyes always poke through the slip in the door. They...**

 **They disgust me.**

 **.**

 **Why do I feel so weak?**

 **I felt strong before.**

 **I wonder if it is linked to...**

 **her.**

 **Why does it feel like I am being lured?**

* * *

 **Authors note: Hope you enjoyed this downtime chapter. Things gonna get real soon. Like really real!**

 **Stay safe**

 **Jordan**


	32. An issue

**Chapter 32: An issue**

* * *

Her mind was stuck in a spasm. Whirls of glitches. She was unfinished, the one thing that had kept her stable had been taken away.

 _Get it together._

Her body smashed itself against the mattress; arms shaking and twitching.

But then a voice.

"Hey! Hey Sayori! You okay?!" A hand waved in front of her.

Then concerned eyes, looking down at her. Worry. Someone cared.

The mind settled and glitches dissolved. Breathing slowed.

Back in control.

* * *

She settled down;I sighed with relief. My breathing was heavy.

Obviously she wasn't okay. Her hand ocassionally tensed quickly.

It had been difficult to get her inside.

I had sat by her for the past thirty minutes, watching as she slept.

Her breathing was sporadic, crazy even. It would slow down, and be calm, before deciding to go as fast as a fucking edm concert's music.

Natsuk1 and my friend decided to go into the other room, to get some rest. I pulled up my sleeve, noticing the black bruises. The chase had been rough.

We still had one more girl to rescue.

.

A twig did snap then?

Leaves ruffling.

Shit.

I grabbed my walkie talky.

"Guys we are being surrounded."

.

.

.

No response.

I then glanced at the window.

Flashlights, thuds of boots. Getting up, I glanced at the girl, who now, finally, had calmed down properly.

My hand rested on the doorframe. I moved over to the beds, kicking the two mattresses.

"Dude, its too late. Go back to...wait is that footsteps?" He sat up looking at me. I nodded sternly.

"We got a problem."

* * *

The building was surrounded. What seemed to be SWAT police were lining up on the doorways and standing outside exposed windows.

Clicks of safety's rang out throughout the forest.

Two vans with bars were sitting neatly outside the school, parallel. The bonnets glinted in the early sun.

A helicopter finally set down in the open patch directly in front of the entrance. A cane emerged.

"Secure the perimeter. All exits locked down. You know the drill!" Came from his menacing voice.

More footsteps followed.

* * *

"Shit man we are done." His hands were shaking. Every exit was covered, I knew that much.

I grabbed his shoulders. "Right. Stop now and breath. In through your nose and out through your mouth." He did as he was told, his glare began to focus. My devious look caught his eye.

"We might not have any way out. But they don't know what is in here."

.

Every door was barricaded. Tables lined the windows. Huddled in a circle, we counted our rounds.

"Right, one full mag for the Uzi. Two more taser shots. Its...its not much but..." I paused. We needed to keep in high spirits at least.

"We can work with it."

The baker had decided to look after our currently hindered friend. They were moved upstairs to a more defensible position. It was difficult covering her eyes as we walked through the 'graveyard' that we had been sleeping under.

I took a moment. High chances were...well we weren't really going to get out of this. But it could be worse. Much much worse.

"You ready? Breath dude."

"Yeah." He breathed in. And out. "I'm ready."

"Good. Now I'm taking the Uzi, we have limited rounds here. You know how to fire a taser right?"

"You forgot I was in the first responders for a while. This thing was practically my life."

"Okay that's great. Now I need you focused. If we are overwhelmed we fall back. You see an exit opportunity, you get out, ambush them. How's your martial arts?"

"I haven't exactly fought like this for a while."

"Remember what I taught you."

"How could I forget?"

"Exactly!" A sudden knock on the door signified us to ready up. We tipped the table forward.

"Just to say, these last couple of days, I haven't felt the most alive in a while."

"Yeah well let's keep it that way, eh?"

The door endured one boot to the middle.

Then another.

The hinges finally gave way as the door broke open.

* * *

"Sir, I...the virus. Its on to us. It is commanding the 'lure'"

His head dived into hand. Breaking. They had to adapt.

"Activate the subject. And for gods sake prey this doesn't ruin everything."

"Yes sir!"

* * *

 **Authors note: Hoooooo booiiii this is getting pretty exciting. See you guys tomorrow!**

 **Jordan**


	33. Attack

**Chapter 33: Attack**

* * *

The dust settled across the floor, as daylight streamed in through the now open door.

Silence.

My hands sweated profusely.

Sudden thuds of rounds skimmed off the top of the metal table, as well as thudding into it. But it held. Footsteps.

Peeking out, I noticed two armed soldiers dressed in SWAT gear peek out at the doorframe. I aimed for his head and pulled the trigger, being accompanied by a thud slump of the body.

Suddenly five men rushed in, all carrying assault rifles. My arm swung across as I let out another five rounds, killing three as more and more bullets attempted to penetrate our one source of cover.

It went silent as two sets of footsteps became louder and louder. My body launched out of cover, staggering one of the foes, while my friend kicked the gun out of other before planting a taser bolt in his neck. The guy was left on the floor, shaking profusely.

Punching the trigger left the first group down.

Was that i-

"GO GO GO!" Sudden canisters of smoke emerged from the doorways and smashed through the front windows, followed by heavy footsteps of at least a group of ten.

"Get back, get back!" I shouted, as we pulled the top of the table back towards the main set of stairs that lay at the main entrance of the school, scraping across the floor.

I kept returning fire, my friend kept peeking round to make sure that he didn't waste his last taser bolt. Bullets whizzed over our heads, implanting themselves into the walls behind us. Windows smashed, shards of glass going everywhere.

We were being overrun.

Still I kept firing, we weren't going down easily at least.

*Click* What?

*Click* *Click* *Click*

The gun refused to fire.

I was out.

And bullets were still whizzing by our head.

I grabbed my knife, and vaulted into the smoke.

* * *

The gunfire was getting louder. We could both hear it.

It was scary.

She was beginning to wake up again, her muscles began to move, her bones clicking after several years of not being used by herself.

Her eyes opened, it was absorbing, entrancing even. We both stared for five minutes.

"What's that noise?" She asked.

I briefly explained the situation, her eyes were wide.

What was this feeling?

I felt powerful. The overwhelming feeling overtook me; I reached for her hand.

* * *

In the smoke, they had never really suspected me. From there end, it was dazzling; the gunfire, the smoke. So as another guy was met with a knife to his jugular and the smoke began to dissipate, I began to glance around for another gun.

"Don't...move." *click* The metal barrel pressed against the back of my head.

God dammit! I had tested my luck.

"Tell your friend to get out now."

I sighed. No way now.

"Dude...its over." He slowly raised himself out, hands above his head. The outline of the barrel began to cut into my skin.

It all happened so very quickly after that. His reach for the taser, my grab for the gun. The guard fired, followed by...

I spun round, planting several rounds into his forehead. More footsteps. Vaulting over the table, I analysed his wounds.

His coughed was followed by splatters of blood. The pool of what was in him was now very much out of him. He gripped my arm, gazing into me.

"Get them out." Before his head nodded to the side, lifeless.

I shook him, screaming as his body sagged around, creating ripples in the crimson ocean that surrounded him.

"Get up! Come on damn you, please get up!" My head pressed against his shoulder, as more rounds flew over.

He didn't respond.

The gunfire never stops.

.

I lay against the table, waiting for the impending footsteps.

It was all over.

What was that buzzing sound?

.

It was only then I noticed that the two girls were standing at the top of the stairs. Light consumed the room.

 _/ FORCE SHUT DOWN IMMINENT /_

 _ERROR 945658: MEMORY OVERLOAD_

 _REBOOTING..._

 _..._

 _..._

 _..._

 _REBOOT FAILED..._

 _PERFORMING SOFT SYSTEM RESET..._

...

...

...

...

...

SYSTEM FILES RECOVERED...

REBOOTING...

...

...

...

REBOOT FAILED...

PERFORMING SYSTEM DUPLICATION INJECTION...

...

...

...

...

SUCCESSFUL

REBOOTING...

...

...

...

LOADED...

INITIALISING...

* * *

 **Authors note: What a chapter! Hope it was decent and wasn't terrible etc. Keep feedback coming!**

 **Jordan**


	34. Silence

**Chapter 24: Silence**

* * *

The room was silent, like it had been sucked into a vacuum.

I lifted my head, rubbing it slightly.

"Ughhhh" Groaning, my legs stumbled over to the steps. Remnants of the smoke still hung around, the faint, but sharp taste of gunpowder loomed in the air.

My foot caught one of the bodies. I felt my face collide with the cold concrete steps. Pain shot through my clicked jaw.

I wasn't dead.

Getting up again, I finally stumbled along. The soft pit patters of rain clipped the glass windows.

Reaching the steps, my brain finally shifted into gear as I noticed the two girls, collapsed.

My feet pounded up the steps, taking two strides of three steps, as I eventually reached the top.

"Sayoriiiii0109402? Na11111ki?" Shaking their shoulders, I worryingly tried to see glimmers of life in their cold faces. Twitches of their face, a flutter of their eyebrows, a breath.

Anything!

At that moment, something caught me by surprise. The childhood friend's body began to...glitch? Pixels began emerging. It twitched as see through squares emerged, surrounding the body.

Then it stopped.

 _What the hell?_

 _What the actual fuck?_

My mind felt like ripping itself apart, as though reality was descending between two black holes.

I glanced down at my hands. They were fuzzy. Sweat that had accumulated began sizzling.

The reality was breaking?

The world lost focus, everything went silent.

Time accelerated at the speed of light.

Heavy breathing.

Help me.

Help.

Help.

.

 _"Breath. Think of her."_

Those emerald eyes.

That hazelnut hair.

That wonderful body.

Her smile.

The world began slowing down. As though it was rewinding.

My body felt heavy.

I looked at my hands. Focused.

The bodies were still.

My legs felt weak.

Tears began to spill down my cheek.

I looked back down, towards the steps. The somebody I had known for too long, he wasn't coming back.

My whole body collapsed onto the steps, my face controlled by some other being as it was thrust into my hands.

He wasn't coming back.

He wasn't coming back.

He wasn't coming back.

* * *

 _"She is totally into you dude!" My friend wide eyed me, shocked that I had said such a thing._

 _"No way!"_

 _"Yes way! You guys spend hours talking..."_

 _"Because we are friends! Nothing more!"_

 _"Come on dude...you can't say that you aren't at least a little bit into her." He paused, a little sad._

 _I paused, conflicted._

 _"Exactly." He said._

* * *

"Oh god...Moni..." I sobbed, the gunfire coming back.

The tears never stopped raining down, the splatters clicking against the steps. They danced beautifully, like her.

* * *

 _"Come on this is my favourite song!" She laughed, dragging me up off the soft carpet._

 _"I'm terrible at this!" I retracted away, my hand itching to escape her fingers._

 _"Oh come on! God its not like anyone's watching!"_

 _Her laugh was intoxicating._

* * *

A sudden shuffle sounded behind me. Footsteps.

Then a sudden burst of warmth around my shoulders.

My head finally lifted, being entranced by the deep blue that I was connected with.

The rain stopped, birds began to sing. Rays of sun shone through the broken windows.

* * *

 _"Rob? Rob! You can't stay in there forever." The room was dark and cold. It seemed to resonate with me. My bed was unmade._

 _Silence, yet I was full of noise. The constant screams. Everywhere._

 _So cold._

* * *

Her nose nuzzled into my shoulder, as her body fully wrapped around mine. It was enchanting.

It was...

a peaceful silence.

.

* * *

 **Authors note: Sorry I missed the upload over the last couple of days. Need a breather from this every now and again, and I didn't have much time due to family stuff. Plus discord is a nightmare...and spiderman...**

 **Stay cool**

 **Jordan**


	35. Movement

**Chapter 35: Movement**

* * *

The girl tensed, before standing up.

It had been a rough day.

School had drabbed on.

More homework.

More studying.

More.

She didn't really see the point to it.

Her cosy brown hair flocked as she wiped her brows. The pen scratched across the paper.

"Hmmm..." An equation. Of course. The one struggle out of the mountain she had carried home.

Darkness lurked in the shadows of her room, as she was only lighted by the small five pound lamp on her bedside table. Magazines lay strewn across the bed, as well as a pair of headphones that flashed red.

Her body shifted, head now resting in the palm of her hand. Her thoughts had also shifted to him.

There was something enchanting about the way he waved. About his smile. The way he looked.

Yet he couldn't be more dense.

If only he could see.

Only see how real she was.

If only she could reach the inner parts of his brain, and pluck out what would make him notice.

Never mind.

She stared at the cow that loomed in the corner of her room, the glare never ending. It always fixated onto her.

Her mind still recalled the time at the fare. The stall they both went to, and his amazing throws. The surprise when he had handed the giant cow was overwhelming.

She still fluttered just thinking of it.

The deep sea leaked onto the floor, her head collapsed to the desk.

He was her point.

Her only point.

For any of this.

* * *

Patting her hair, I made my way to get up. By now, she had clutched my arm tightly, making moving uncomfortable. We had just sat there, listening.

Tears had dried. Noses sniffed.

The calm after the storm, once again.

She finally decided to leave my arm, my skin curling away from the warmth lost.

We both smiled.

A loud groan caught my attention.

"Ughhh...what happened? Wait...is that..." Her face began etching with tears, as her feet pounded down the steps towards the crimson puddle with my friend in the centre.

* * *

It had taken a while to calm the small baker down. Tears had streamed like the waterfall we had landed in. She was eventually dragged away from the body, as we headed for the exit.

The helicopter was no where to be seen. All that remained were some SWAT trucks and a couple of responder saloons.

One had a key left in.

"Come on."

We all climbed in, Sayor111 getting in the passenger seat and Natsuk11i1ii resting in the back.

The car started.

Relief! I had questioned if it would start before hand.

Knocking the gear into first, I noticed the sad looking tsundere gloomily looking out the window, spaced out. Her eyes were glossy, but nothing was leaving her eyelids.

They would be okay, right?

They **had** to be.

.

We had driven for about thirty minutes. We had to stay moving or they would crush back down on us. The last girl...soon...

A petrol indicator came up. No cars had been seen on any of the roads. It was almost desolate. Scary.

The car pulled to a stop under the cover of the station.

*Click*

I slid out the door, footsteps scraping against the concrete.

 _"Almost there..."_ A voice.

 _"You know what to do."_

"But...but what if I can't...? What if I fail?"

 _"It won't come to that will it?"_

I sighed, the pump began vibrating, the numbers clicking over.

 _"The baker knows where to go. It won't be as simple this tim-"_

"SIMPLE! What do you mean simple? I have almost died way too many fucking times! Just under the IDEA that SHE is alive! Don't you FUCKING tell me what is simple anymore?"

 _"You want to see her?"_

What?

"I'm sorry wha-"

My vision was engulfed, like a bubble containing a window into another realm.

A dark, cold room.

No windows, small and a very hard floor.

Sobbing.

Hazelnut hair.

A white bow.

I could have touched her there, she was so close.

 _"Is this what you were looking for?"_

My legs urged to move there, to her side.

They wouldn't move.

The vision began to get smaller, her head turned, eyes wide.

"No! No no no no! Take me back!"

The pump lay on the ground, leaving a puddle of petrol at its end.

 _"There is...one side effect..."_

I immediately had an urge to vomit.

* * *

"He knows what's expected?"

"He does now."

"We are...running out of time."

The commander glanced at the graph on the screen, showing a red line going down.

'Population.'

It was spreading.

"Keep on it. Good on the whole sick part by the way, don't want him losing his mind!" He chuckled, moving to grab another coffee.

"Sir don't you think you have had enough for one day." Styrofoam cups lay scattered all over the desk.

He glanced back.

"We are on the brink of extinction, possibly about to lose the simulation to some virus that is trying to kill us all, and you are concerned about my god damn DRINKING HABITS!" The commander exploded into laughter. Settling down, he sighed.

"Don't worry about me."

With a loud and scattered cough, he rushed towards the coffee machine.

 **.**

 **.**

 **End Of Act 3**

.

.

* * *

 **Authors note: Oh boy! We are getting close to the end now (Well kinda)! As always all feedback is appreciated! Hope just everything is okay and as always, I value your feedback like fucking gold (as long as its decent and constructive)! Sorry for the sporadic chapter sizes again, just how I roll I suppose!**

 **See ya'll in Act 4!**

 **Jordan**


	36. Endurance

**Chapter 36: Endurance**

* * *

"The city."

"Wait what?"

The car had been trailing around for a while now, avoiding the occasional remaining flood that was still around, circling around the city.

Cars were now beginning to appear on the road again, as though everything was returning to normal. It was almost comforting, like when you are on a long road trip but finally see civilisation.

A confirmation you haven't lost your mind yet.

I pushed the peddle down, switching gears to compensate for the ever growing cars on the road.

"Very well." I sighed. A rumbling from below signified we needed to stop.

Just then, a diner appeared behind a couple of trees. My hands turned to the right, following the slip road.

"You guys hungry?" The back mirror told me all I needed to know, as the car lined with the white lines in the car park.

We stepped out, the motorway immediately filling the silence and drone of the car. It felt...clean, and refreshing.

.

As the door creaked open, the waft of warm air rushed out the door. Entrancing smells and clinks consumed the room.

We headed in.

.

We were lucky to get a table. It was packed.

Definitely a sight after spending two or three hours just travelling alone.

A smartly dressed girl, around twenty two years walked to the table, dressed in a spotless apron and hair tied back, carrying a small notepad. She flipped the page up.

"What can I get you three today?" Her smile was warm and soft. "Or do you need to look at the menu a little longer?" Her chuckle was...

 _No, no no no no NO! Head in focus! Just order the food._

"And for you sir?"

My head flew up. Natsu11k and Sayori had already ordered.

"Ermm...can I have a..." Her eyes were green. My head began to sweat.

"Sorry, I..." I pushed past her, looking for the familiar bathroom sign.

.

Chills were sent up my spine.

 _Something is wrong._

 _"Breath."_

"Can you just SHUT UP this once!"

 _"Think of her though. She is defenceless, alone and trapped. She needs you."_

"Well...I'm losing it. I'm seeing her everywhere." My hands gripped the side of the sink, staring into the cracked reflection.

 _"We have been through this. You saw her."_

"Can I...can I see her again?"

 _"I'm sorry...no..."_

My hands clenched into fists.

"It would be nice if you told me what the HELL is going on!"

 _"Rob, listen."_ The voice began to sound desperate, exasperated even.

 _"I can't tell you what is going on. It would break you. You are just going to have to trust me, okay? Now please, just breath."_

I did as the voice said. My fists relaxed. I hadn't noticed how tense I was. A shiver went down my spine.

 _Wow, its so cold in here._

I chuckled, leaving the bathroom.

.

The diner had spaced out a little. People were leaving as the sun began to cast another orange glow across the red seats. Haze floated around in the air.

My shoes flopped against the chequered floor. The waitress was nowhere to be seen.

"Hey are you okay?" The slightly tense voice of the tsundere illuminated the darkening restaurant.

I sat down, being met with smells of...

"Pancakes?"

"Well you did you have a mini panic attack dude. So I just got you pancakes."

My hair bristled against my hand as I rubbed the back of my head nervously.

"The waitress felt really bad dude. You should go and say sorry."

My stomach rumbled.

"He he...maybe after..." I chuckled nervously.

The knife cut effortlessly into the fried batter, my fork plunged in and I took a bite.

 _Oh my god. How long has it been?_

* * *

The crew was in applause, faces nervous with sweat.

"Steph you fucking genius!"

"That was too close..."

A clap was heard.

"Right everyone, back to work." Immediately, everyone began making their way over.

A large and unhealthy cough filled the utmost silence.

"Sir are you-"

"I'm fine!" He barked, followed my more coughs. He lifted up a used tissue, containing faint hints of a red substance.

 _They mustn't know._

"Right, are we ready people? This is going to be tough, so be prepared to fight any interference! **The** **virus must not escape!** Last girl come one!" With one final clap, everyone went scurrying back to their stations.

"For all our sake's" He mumbled to himself.

It was killing him. Slowly, but surely. They needed it gone. Or a cure would not be able to be found.

Life signs had been detected carrying the DNA necessary for developing a cure. It was a slim chance, but it could work.

As long as Rob made it into that skyscraper.

* * *

Her eyes were wide, teeth were showing with a slight deviance.

They were close. She could feel the door open, the air rush through the diner. Somehow, she was almost as connected as...

 **Fucking Monikammmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm**

* * *

 **Authors note: Hit a bit of writers block (or something along those lines) but shit has also been going down, which does include my mild spiderman obsession phase recently. To be honest I don't even know why I mentioned that, but fuck it!**

 **The end is very much getting nearer and nearer, jeez I get excited just thinking about it!**

 **Anyway, keep feedback coming! I'm sorry my style seems to change every god damn chapter but whatever. It could be due to music but whatever.**

 **Oh god rambling!**

 **See ya!**

 **Jordan**


	37. Tall

**Chapter 37: Tall**

* * *

At this point, I had given up on time.

Trees began to lose their glow, night owls began hooting and beginning their hunt, the lamppost lights began to flicker on and the roads became stretched of cars once more.

"That way." Nats902375oanmosf pointed, straight towards the city.

"Very well." I started the car up, the revs coughing into life.

It wasn't looking good.

.

For some reason my hands were shaking. Not like when I had freed Sa779289 or Natsuuuuuuuuuuuuuuk1k1.

It felt different. Like I was being...forced away.

For the first time I felt really...terrified...of what would happen.

The tunnel suddenly engulfed the noise of the car, sending it bouncing all over the walls.

Orange tints shone across the car bonnet.

* * *

The scent was getting stronger. I was alone. Not afraid but angry. The pulse of his engine, the beat of his heart.

 **Soon.**

* * *

With a screech, we finally arrived.

"Are you sure?" Natsu892714kanfdladmqpadnmpaaamda looked at me with judging eyes, before smirking.

"Well then, Mr I don't know anything, where do you think we should go?"

 _Crap._

"Alright fine. But how do we get in?"

She pointed towards the fire escape on the opposing building, before mentioning the zipline.

"Wow you are the observant type aren't you?" Her smile gleamed.

Sa983ytwno;apj02;a had been awfully quiet. I glanced over towards her. She avoided my gaze. Walking over...I asked

"What's up?" Her hand crossed towards her other arm, fidgeting with the sleeve nervously.

"Somethings wrong. Like we shouldn't do this. It hurts R0212aoiafpoia'0231a." She clutched her stomach, exhibiting extreme discomfort. A tear began to emerge.

"Hey hey hey no don't cry..." I whispered gently. "If you want to stay in the car it's okay. Hey?"

She nodded.

"Okay." I nodded towards Natsuki, who pulled out the zipline from the boot, waiting.

 _No cars. Weird even at this time._

The street was empty, but it was almost like some sort of mist was consuming the surface of the street, uncomfortably.

She was right. Something was off, I could feel it. It felt like some sort magnet, repelling me away from this very building.

I really didn't want to go in.

 _"Bre-"_

"I'm okay. Just don't..."

The voice was silent.

"Who are you talking to?"

"Hmm? Oh...no one...just me..." She would most likely think I'm crazy. We needed to stay focused.

"Well are you ready? I'm already sick of this place and we haven't gone in yet!" She flashed a bright smile.

 _We are all feeling it eh?_

"Come on..." and with that she swiftly grabbed my hand. I looked back to the click of the door.

 _I hope she is okay._

* * *

These stairs wouldn't end. _Like holy shit how tall does a building have to be?_

We had been climbing for about fifteen minutes but it had already felt like forever.

What made it worse was me having to drag him a lot of the way. God he was so slow.

I had began to feel a buzzing in my head which worried me a little.

Also this zipline was heavy.

"Hey can you hold this?" He nodded.

"Yeah sure."

Then the ending emerged.

 _Fucking finally._

Setting up the target, the bolt fired into the concrete, hitting with a thud.

"That's secure enough I think." He questioned, testing the wire with his hand.

"Yeah. You ready?"

"For this? You can fucking bet I am!"

* * *

"Sir...a silent alarm has been tripped from the east side. Looks like some sort of wire."

"Ready the soldiers." He straightened his tie, pushing his glasses up his nose.

They had been lucky to escape the blast of 0's and 1's. Everything living in a three mile radius had been evaporated.

Except him.

He had been excluded from the death of over fifteen of the orders greatest men.

How?

His cane scraped along the wall, as it fell to the wall.

"Sorry sir. I'll get that." The lower rank bent down, before receiving kick to the face.

And a bullet to the head.

"Fuck!" The room went silent. "Ughhh..." he shook his arms, trying to shake up the lose drops of blood that had now swallowed a lot of the suit. "Whatever happens, do NOT let them in. And someone...

 **Get me a new suit."**

* * *

 **Another authors note: Wow it has been a while(sorta). Sorry ya'll I slipped out of routine due to family events and shit. Will try to keep it more consistent from now on.**

 **Please keep criticism coming! Nitpick if you must, I am striving to get better at this!**

 **See ya!**

 **Jordan**


	38. Office

**Chapter 38: Office**

* * *

We both crawled through the window carefully.

The edge along the wire had been...less than unpleasant. The wire had shaken several times with the wind, which had seemed to pick up.

 _Talk about pathetic fallacy eh?_

So when climbing into the inviting window, we were both pleasantly surprised to find it was empty.

"Talk about a lucky break." I said, helping the 'young' girl through.

"Yeah! But that wind was hectic!" She exclaimed, correcting her hair which had been blown furiously out of proportion to how she had so gladly kept it before.

The buzzing had returned. Slight scratches accompanied its monotone sound, adding a sense of irritation to it.

This was seriously worrying. What was causing it?

"Come on, let's move." I urged, glancing left and right at the two intersecting doors. We seemed to be in some sort of work closet, with mops leant against walls and empty buckets scattered across the floor.

"You really think its a good idea to just go out into the corridor." At that very instance, I heard several muffled voices followed by clinks of some sort of gear walk past.

"You got a better plan?"

"Well, what about that vent?" she pointed towards the vent on the roof.

"And how do you suppose we get up there?"

The little tsundere began shuffling the shelves very slowly across the room, so to not make any noise.

Soon a neat little 'ladder' had been formed, allowing access.

"And what about me? I won't fit!"

"Well, I'm sure such a...brave...strong soldier can think of something." With that, she scurried up the vent.

"Wait!" Her head popped out.

"What?" I tossed up a walkie-talkie, which she caught with precision. "Keep in contact okay."

I connected the wire to my earpiece I had put in.

"Testing. 1...2...3?" No response. Was her's not working?

"Helloooo?" Come on Naegt5o9ijku8hr, where are you?

"Sorry yeah, I can hear you. Just had to get the earpiece in. God these things are just so fiddly." She began making sounds of struggling before her voice came through clearly. "There we go."

* * *

"Sir, the targets just entered the building."

"Good. Form your men in the subject's room. Prepare the men for an ambush."

"Yes, sir!" The young officer darted out of the room.

He adjusted his glasses, smiling grimly.

They wouldn't know what hit them.

* * *

"Right! Now!" I quickly swerved into the office to my right, closing the door as two gunmen walked around the corner.

The baker and I had devised a tactic: she would look through the vents and guide me to where she could feel the sensation. I would follow and occasionally have to quickly duck into a room when she decided to shout "LEFT" down the earpiece.

It was miraculous she hadn't been heard yet.

The buildings swerving corridors and immaculate floors had been painfully boring. Walls were mainly white, not many paintings were on show and even I felt the lack of plant pots disturbing. In addition, offices were scattered all over the place in random locations, some with no names on them. A lot of them contained cardboard boxes with personal items.

I slowly opened the door, peeking around to check for guards.

"You're good. Keep moving." Some bangs in the vents told me my partner had started moving, and I followed suit.

.

We had been going at this for fifteen minutes. Obviously, she had continued to say that we were getting closer and to "Stop complaining." but I was getting more impatient by the second.

"You know you sound like a five-year-old right now. That's what...the fifth time?"

"Well, are you really surprised."

"Haha, when it comes to men, not really."

"What's that supposed to mean?" A chuckle replied.

"I'm sure you can figure it out." She said slyly. "We are close though. I can feel it." NHYU9I8Oder£$w had sounded a lot more...mature recently. Grown up and adultlike. I decided to tell her this, in which she replied with confusion, wondering "How can that be true? I haven't changed a bit!". However, I could tell she was smiling.

At last, we finally broke free of the maze-like offices that we had been trudging through, which had felt like forever.

Where we had arrived seemed to represent a foyer, with large glass windows reflecting the heavy moonlight and curtains draped down. There also seemed to be a party of sorts going on, with a large number of people dressed in dinner-wear, open back dresses and pristine suits made by the latest brands. Background music served its purpose and the floor was littered with tables containing drinks and the occasional wedding sized cake...or two.

"Holy shit," I muttered, looking at the scene.

A clang from a room to my left signified my accomplice had left the vents. This was followed by a thud of shoes onto the carpet and a rapid open and closure of the door as she joined me to my left side. She was covered in dust.

"You might want to brush yourself down before we go in there."

"Yeah." She smiled gleefully up at me, before quickly patting down her chest, and then her legs.

"Right, we go in, we move as quickly as possible to that elevator over there." I pointed towards the two condescending doors that lay to the left of where we were standing. It was frequently opening and closing, letting guests in and out. A large cheap banner in the middle of the room read "Good luck Robert!" with sparkles and stars surrounding the words.

Funny, that's **my name.**

"Right, let's go."

* * *

"Nice touch Jess. Real subtle." A gruff cough followed his words, as he brought the handkerchief up to his face just in time for anyone to see the slight red that was now becoming more frequent with every passing day.

 _They cannot see._

Of course, he could be treated, and he had considered it many a time for the past several months. But it would never fix him.

He would probably just be taken off the project, his most exciting one that he had led. Someone who wasn't as qualified would take over and ruin everything, most likely.

The handkerchief was swiftly thrown into the disperser, as he stumbled towards his room. It was getting late.

Suddenly a voice.

"Sir! Sir I was just wanting to say how...hey sir are you okay?" His coughing spree had returned. Of course.

He was out of handkerchief's.

At once, his body began to collapse, as he gripped the wall in hopes of support. His vision became blurred and distored. Brief shouts echoed across the corridor.

"Someone get a medkit!", "The commander collapsed!". Maybe.

Maybe it was time to move on. To accept his inevitability. His eventual demise.

He had kept it hidden too long. He had lied to the crew. He had lied to his once chance of hope.

 **Maybe this is what he deserved.**

* * *

 **Authors note: Oof. Sorry for another late upload but as I write more chapters, I am struggling to keep on with this, not gonna lie (Similar to last year sadly.) Don't worry though, I am determined to get this done, even it means chapters don't go up everyday!**

 **Stay frosty ya'll**

 **Jordan**


	39. Elevator

**Chapter 39: Elevator**

* * *

We moved quickly, the stares becoming more and more frequent. I glanced back, security was beginning to check us out.

"Duck down," I said, raising my hand to my ear. "Security." Glancing once more.

"Yeah, I saw them." It was true that even I couldn't spot her in the crowd, the sweet odour of cheap perfume and heat beginning to get to me. Losing focus, I crashed into someone.

"Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry!" My hand extended towards the fallen guest, pulling them to their feet.

Moving on, we quickly reached the elevator, my companion joining me.

It wasn't on our floor yet.

Security began moving towards out location, shoving people out of the way.

 _Come on! Hurry up dammit!_

The armed, suited figures with classic shades began running, their hands landing on holsters, which held firearms.

* _Ding*_

We rushed inside, as guests stormed out past us. I practically punched the button, as the elevator doors slid shut, just as the guards were going to reach us.

"Holy...shit..." I panted drastically, my partner practically mirroring me as the elevator climbed the levels.

"Close huh?"

"Yeah."

"Well be prepared to go up there," I said, pointing towards the ceiling. "Ten thousand I bet that they will have guns trained on this door, and we will get a little message through that microphone." My hand now pointing toward the intercom.

A sudden sound then crackled through the intercom. "Drop any weapons you have, and prepare to be taken into custody."

"Called it."

* * *

"What are we going to do?" A crowd a formed inside the central control room. Mysterious murmurs and a heavy amount of shuffling was could be heard.

"They'll probably jettison it."

"Do higher command know?"

The occasional loud sigh could be heard too, as people began to grasp how difficult the situation had gotten.

"Okay, everyone!" A male British voice sliced through the crowd, urging lowered heads to rise up. The phrase was shockingly similar to something. The voice cleared his throat. "Can I just run over what we are NOT going to do first?" He clapped his hands together.

Outcries were then met from the crowd.

"Who made you in charge?"

"Yeah!" The command room began steaming with shouting.

"The...the...can everyone just BE QUIET!" Everyone went quiet.

"Now, the first thing we are NOT going to do...is panic. We can get this sorted out and have the higher-ups know, but I need you all to not panic. We have gotten this far." Silence encapsulated the room, as the tension began to slack. **A perfect comparison would be a horrible, humid greenhouse; if you were locked inside of course.**

"Okay, thank you. Now we need to address who will be our temporary leader. Of course, I will put myself forward but we aren't a dictatorship, we are a group of people locked on a spaceship and thus, we need to stay focused. So, do we have any candidates?" The room's moisture was thick and heavy, people shuffling nervously, wanting to put their hand up...but not daring to break from the crowd.

"Very well."

* * *

Sudden footsteps flooded the elevator.

"They aren't here."

"Where the hell did they go?"

I raised my finger, holding my breath as the little tsundere pressed her feet against mine. Any movement we made would probably be heard, which included a shuffle, as the elevator shaft was a fantastic breeding ground for echoes, who would tattletale every movement you made to the nearest ear and further.

So we were silent.

Our position didn't help, as standing on the elevator brought sweat. We had both decided we didn't trust the elevator's creaks, and the option for a ladder was non-negotiable...

as there wasn't one.

Simply, we were stuck, hoping our legs wouldn't give way as that would lead to the plummet and eventual death.

 **All caught up now? Good.**

.

The cramp was beginning to swell. A rush of pain rushed through my leg, causing me to grit teeth and clench my fists.

The shaft was small, with only one elevator for the place. This was surprising considering the number of guests at the party. And the lack of a ladder was also surprising.

I theorised that most likely the drones simply did it instead.

"Call upstairs, get a light in there!"

We looked up at each other, wide-eyed and beginning to scan for a way out.

A vent!

Shuffling quickly, we climbed higher and higher; past one elevator door, and another, as the doors were ripped open from the emergency unlock. Flashlights began shining up the shaft, not able to accurately fire on our position. Yet.

Sweat began overwhelming my forehead, I began to lose focus as panic began to take over. My foot slipped.

Then everything happened very quickly. My hand reached for Natfr4ewjui9, my other reaching for the nearest ledge, that I prayed to god would be there.

Luckily it was, as the shirt that I was currently clinging to in my first hand was slipping.

"CLIMB! NOW!" The tsundere grabbed my arm, pulling herself up. I grabbed the ledge with my now free hand. The door beneath us began to open.

"Get the vent open." Standing on my head, rather uncomfortably she began ripping the vent straight off its hinges. Something began burning in her eyes, a red flame of sorts, which was a peculiar site when accustomed to the normal pink pigment her eyes usually wore.

"HURRY!" I shouted, before being met with a vent flying past my shoulder. She scurried in, offering a hand. The door beneath me opened. I grabbed her hand, thrusting myself into the vent, with bullet holes skinning the soles of my shoes.

Too close.

* * *

"Fuck!" Slapping his leg, the soldier walked back into the room, clicking the safety back on. "I had them!"

"Walk it off, Michael." A younger, calmer voice said, thrusting his gun over his shoulder. "We'll get 'em next time."

"Yeah but still-" Michael was interrupted by a burst through the door, as a pistol shot went through his head.

"You fucking idiot!" Blood began to seep down the elevator shaft, as the body was then kicked down it, by the figure's two guards. He had become more infuriated; this was supposed to be simple. They had them in their grasp. Still...they had another shot...

"And you! Don't say a word." His eyes shrivelled in the direction of the shocked soldier, who was unable to say anything.

The group left the room, leaving him all alone.

"Oh god..." was all he could let out.

* * *

A single shot was heard from underneath us, penetrating the tense silence we had let overwhelm us as we attempted to let the soldiers walk away.

"Fuck man. This is messed up." A voice to my left, which I had my arm around. "Hey, you mind taking your arm off me now?"

"Oh yeah sorry..." I pulled away, beginning to crawl, thumping sounds accompanying my footwear.

"You want them to find us?" I stopped, looking back.

"Well, I can't exactly move very quietly." She looked at me, raising an eyebrow.

"Watch." She took her socks and shoes off, storing it in a neat little pocket in her jacket, as she began using the sides of the vent to quieten her feet. "Well, are you coming or what?"

"Where did you learn this stuff?"

"I think you might not want to know..." her face darkened against the red hue that filled the vent.

"Try me."


	40. Space Debris

**Chapter 40: Space** **Debris**

* * *

 _Space. The inky shadow of the universe. The boundaries that separate one planet from another._

His pen clicked against his lip, unsure of his next line. Stars dazzled outside the window he sat at.

 _Scale. The oceans curl to it's very inky black, hoping to reach the goddess body soaring above-_

He sighed, his pen scribbling and scratching against the paper, as the wide expression of his eyes turned to a frown.

For a brief couple of seconds, glancing out of that window, a black spot appeared in front of the sun.

It was getting larger. And larger.

His eyes widened.

At once the room burst open, as the comet cracked the hardened windows, allowing the vacuum to pull the room into it's inky grasp.

He glanced back to his remaining life, the ice quickly slithering into his nose. The mechanical door would shut automatically, red lights would blare.

His colleagues now stared at him with wide-eyed expressions, hands to mouths. But what was there to fear. He felt warmer than ever.

Now it was time to pick up his pen.

* * *

Sweating, we followed the red emergency lights that lined the vent walls. Footsteps thudded beneath us. Clicks of weapons and voices sounded as we crept on.

 **Blackness.**

 _POWER SURGE DETECTED. REBOOTING._

 _..._

 _..._

 _..._

 _REBOOT SUCCESSFUL. RE-INITIALISING._

The floor came at a screaming halt.

"What the fuck!" Na11111aaaaaaaaaaa screamed, as bullets soared, before...disappearing.

 **Darkness.**

 _FURTHER POWER SURGES DETECTED. REBOOTING IN ECO MODE._

 _..._

 _..._

 _..._

 _REBOOT SUCCESSFUL. RE-INITIALISING._

.

.

.

 _Everything was frozen. The bullets trails left powder that was as easy to move as if we were in a vacuum._

 _A pen sat perfectly in place, ink leaking out of the stray bullet that had managed to hit it._

 _"Hey" an echo sounded behind me. I saw running towards the door, as if she was in slow motion._

 _"Come on." a giggle to my right saw **her**. Chestnut hair, white bow. Her body turned to pixels. _

_My hands began to feel muffled, I couldn't speak. I tried to scream her name but the words wouldn't come._

At once, the rooms content dropped. My hands began to shake, tears came uncontrollably. My skin felt slippy and loose.

"Rob!" ran towards me, dropping to her knees, wide-eyed with horror.

Blood began to spill out of my leg.

* * *

 **Authors note: Wooo boy! Sorry for such a small chapter but I, as we all know, took another hiatus and needed to get into the swing again. To explain myself, we had mock exams and that coupled with friend issues, I couldn't bring myself to write ANYTHING. But I'm back once more, hopefully my style hasn't changed too much and it's still decent stuff I am writing. If not, PLEASE LET ME KNOW! Your feedback is the most valuable thing I could get from this (as long as it is constructive of course)! Chapters will certainly be getting longer as we FINALLY WRAP THIS UP. Final stretch peeps, see ya!**


	41. A tiny scratch

**Chapter 41: A tiny scratch**

* * *

My body fell to the floor, the blood gushing out in neat pools of red, which began combining to form a larger puddle of blood.

Immediately, NasssM01usdba rushed to my broken side, a worried look in her eye. A look I had seen before.

Fear. And I was on the other side.

A tear. It trickled down my cheek, hanging down like a vine before finally dropping down.

The blaring was fading away, the shouts and screams telling me stay awake finally resting down. Even the slaps to my face were beginning to feel like cushions.

She stared right at me, the pink hairs falling away towards my knee. How they methodically waved back and forth.

The darkness was comforting.

The darkness was soothing.

The darkness was everything.

.

.

.

 _Wait._

 _What is this?_

 _Where the fuck am I?_

 _How long have I been gone?_

 _._

 _._

 _._

 _A year?!_

 _Take me back._

 _Take me back right FUCKING now._

 _This isn't it._

 _This will not be it._

 ** _Take me BACK!_**

* * *

She rested her head against his shoulder, colour drained, hope lost. Of course, her drips just couldn't stop flowing down the freckled cheeks of her sullen face.

Which is why she was jolted up with the body gasping for breath.

A smile as wide as the oceans spread across her shining face.

"Holy shit! Holy fucking..." At once she helped him across to a dull office chair, before quickly tying a bandage around the wound that blood had stopped flowing out of, her hands shaking with excitement and joy.

His eyes flickered, eyelashes dancing up and down.

Before being sent backwards along with the rest of his body by hers.

* * *

The whole ship should have been taken, destroyed. The comet had hit directly.

They had gotten lucky.

"Lucky! What the fuck is that supposed to mean? They are dead."

"That comet was on a direct collision course. We should have all been fucked by it."

"Well you're one to talk. Now Andrew is...gone..." Her face blushed with sadness, the red hue a mixture of love and emptiness.

Jess, go sit down. Get the system stable again. We just had another huge power surge we had to mask due to Rob's...unwillingness to die.

* * *

"How are you?" An hour had passed.

"Still trying to re-understand the concept of breathing, and my leg hurts like hell."

"I'll go and find som-"

"No don't. Please."

We sat in silence, consumed. It was a sharp silence, but relaxing.

"You- I stuttered. "You told me you were going to tell me where you learnt all that special agent shit."

She smiled sadly.

 **"Yeah. I suppose I did."**


	42. ERROR:FILENOTFOUND

ERROR/:FILE_NOT_FOUND ERROR/:FILE_NOT_FOUND ERROR/:FILE_NOT_FOUND

* * *

The night was cold and dark. Moisture hung throughout the air. I breathed it, the thickness consuming everything.

ERROR/:FILE_NOT_FOUND

The compound was relatively large, but I knew where I was going. Tents lay strewn out among the cleared field, illuminated by bright spotlights and crowded with armoured men patrolling.

ERROR/:FILE_NOT_FOUND

"You know your mission don't you?"

My breath hung in the viscous, humid area. It was almost toxic how thick it was.

"Yeah I know. The briefcase?"

ERROR/:FILE_NOT_FOUND

"Don't forget. Destroy the contents. Do not look at the contents."

ERROR/:FILE_NOT_FOUND

"Why?"

" . . . Are we understood?"

"Sure."

My body slinked down the tree, twisting and turning among the various branches.

ERROR/:FILE_NOT_FOUND

ERROR/:FILE_NOT_FOUND

ERROR/:FILE_NOT_FOUND

I finally reached the tent, water droplets forming along under my hair.

ERROR/:FILE_NOT_FOUND ERROR/:FILE_NOT_FOUND ERROR/:FILE_NOT_FOUND fr4k8içéo9wy3nh2

At once it opened. Documents lay organised. I flipped the lighter open.

ERROR/:FILE_NOT_FOUND

I screamed in pain, pages fluttering to floor. My skin felt like melting.

ERROR/:FILE_NOT_FOUND

Fire.

ERROR/:FILE_NOT_FOUND

Fire everywhere.

ERROR/:FILE_NOT_FOUND

ERROR/:FILE_NOT_FOUND

ERROR/:FILE_NOT_FOUND

* * *

Tears flushed out her eyes. She buried her face once more, leaving a waterfall of moisture which ran down my sleeve. I winced slightly.

"Oh...sorry..." She cleared her eyes.

ERROR/:MANAGEMENT_OF_SUBJECTS_FAILING

"We need to get out of here." I furiously shrugged her off.

Anger pulsed through my veins.

 _Don't._

 _"Why didn't you fucking tell me? You could have told me! You could have at least done that."_

 _Don't make this harder than it has to be. Get in the elevator and go up._

 _._

 _._

 _._

 _R0bbb the system is failing. You need to go up n0w._

 _"Why? Why did it have to be like this?"_

At once my head awoke to a-

"DING"

"Hey are you okay? You look a little pale." nhbf80atsuki looked worryingly at me, her bouncing bulbs for eyes static.

"Yeah. Come on."

* * *

 _Emerald._

 _Fucking emerald._

 _I always hated the colour personally._

 _But when everyone around you wants you to **love** your eye colour, you hate it more._

She sat alone, staring at a piece of glass.

Waiting for her part in the play.

She wanted nothing more than out.

Out of this dingy cell.

 **ERROR/:FILE_NOT_FOUND**

It looked sharp enough.

She could be rid of this forever.

Rid of it all.

But then she wouldn't see it again.

Wait.

 _Him again._

How he smiled.

She couldn't remember the last time it smiled.

Wait.

 _He smiled._

What the fuck was wrong with her?

 **ERROR/:FILE_NOT_FOUND**

Why couldn't she?

 **ERROR/:FILE_NOT_FOUND**

 **Why couldn't she?**

 **ERROR/:FILE_NOT_FOUND**

 **At op0-pnce she 02jeqaclutched the bartj[a;p0okjfas of the o;pamjfdacell.**

 **Hehgtnf/;p[wqo screams p0[-jk**

 **"HEJ9P0AMALLPPPPH3P9 MEEEQJUF9-QP3Q"**

 **ERROR/:FILE_NOT_FOUND. PERFORMING REBOOT DUE TO MULTIPLE CORRUPTIONS.**

 **WARNING:FURTHER REBOOTS WILL RESULT IN FACTORY RESET.**

 **REBOOTING**

 **.**

 **.**

 **.**

 **REBOOTED**

* * *

The elevator was quiet. Viscous and thick. Like air after rain.

"Look I..." Her nervous face projected against the glass back of the elevator, displaying thousands of tiny stars and lights across the city.

"I'm really sorry. It was a job. That's all."

I was silent. My mouth zipped tightly, else I would grab a dictionary and recite every curse word known.

"Can you please...say something?"

 _Breath._

I breathed in...

and out.

"I...I don't know what to think anymore." Her confused glance rippled across her face like a tidal wave.

"I...I've lost all traction with reality. I'm talking with video game characters. I have voices in my head telling me what to and not do. I saw time literally FUCKING FREEZE NATSUKI1!" My head fell into my hands, wrapping around my cheeks. She put her hand on my shoulder.

"Don't fucking touch me."

I felt the swift movement of her hand repulsing, the fluctuations in the air methodically wave away.

"I have almost died COUNTLESS times. My only real friend that I think I knew is now dead. You know, you telling me really made no difference. It was just once piece of my life breaking. Add it to the fucking pile."

I slammed my fist against the wall. Shaking the elevator.

"Why the fuck did I accept that message from...from..."

 **ERROR/:FILE_NOT_FOUND**


	43. Data Loss

**Chapter 43: Data loss**

* * *

The tiny craft whizzed by at the speed of an orbital station, mostly because it was. It was comprised of several modular pieces, all connected and sealed tightly, fitted together like pieces of a jigsaw. Antenna's stuck out, sending signals out towards nothingness. A breach could be seen on the left wing of the craft, debris still following despite being blown away. Lights flickered inside.

"Guys...guys, guys, GUYS!" A panicked shriek rang out among the whole station, sending a flood of footsteps across the station. The crowd cowered around the flickering blue, translucent monitor.

"Fuck that's...that's a corruption?"

"Worse. Complete deletion. No recovery. Must have...must have not backed up."

"So what happens now?"

"I-I don't know." The frail technicians hands began shaking uncontrollably. She was quickly escorted to the nearest bathroom.

"We need to-" A large voice from the back emerged from the back of the crowd. "We need to speed it up."

"Are you crazy?"

"You want us to all die?"

Loud protests rang out among the enraged crowd. The lone speaker held up his hands in front.

"We are all going to fucking die if we don't do anything."

* * *

 _Breathe._

 _"Shut up."_

The elevator ride continued it's sharp silence.

 _Rob._

 _Don't be mad._

 _"Shut up."_

Natsuk111's gaze was still burning in her feet, a look a child would give when they upset their parents.

 _Rob. Please try to understand._

 _"You tell me what the fuck is going on then. What the hell is happening? Why can't I remember her? Her name? Her voice? I can only remember the message. And the bullets..."_

 _Rob please calm down. Stop crying._

"Fuck you."

Natsuujiu turned her face towards me, a furrowing in her eyebrows.

"What did you just say?"

"Wait hang on, I didn't mean-"

"Oh yeah, it was just the 'voices in your head' wasn't it?" She imitated air quotes. "Fuck you too then." She pressed the button for the next floor we would pass, before storming out as the elevator doors opened. "I'll do this without you if you are just gonna be a dick." Tears streamed down her cheeks, yet angrily struck with the power of the sun.

"Natsuk11 wa-" And she was gone. I was alone. The eerily quiet elevator continued silently moving up.

"FUUUUUUCK! Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck." My face connected with walls of the elevator, leaving a dent.

 _"Why did you have to- Tell me what the hell is going on!"_

 _You won't like it. It might destroy everything. Everything you have ever known. Everything you have ever loved._

 ** _"Try me."_**

* * *

The cell was closing.

She swore it was.

Closing in on her.

Breaking her. Compressing her down.

Why couldn't she remember?

She knew his name, of course it was...

It was...

"No..." A silent word came flowing out of her mouth.

His voice, it was so delightful. Or was it?

"I can't..." She stared down at her own hands. The connecting machine code. 0's, 1's, 0 after 1 after 0 after 1.

She couldn't take it anymore. Screw her part in the play.

Screw it all.

She just needed to find him again.

* * *

 _Rob, I'm going to need you to sit down. Place your middle and index fingers on one hand, and stick either or in your eyes lightly._

 _"Why?"_

 _We were not joking when we said you wouldn't be able to handle this. This mitigates the damage._

 _._

 _Rob...this is a simulation._

 _Everything you have ever known, loved and cared about has never been real._

 _You are not real._

 _I'm not even real._

 _You were designed to be the human races saviour. The one thing they could count on._

 _Right now, they are depending on you to unite the four sources of energy. To break the virus and save humanity as we know it._

 _._

 _Rob. I need you to not panic. We have one more chance._

 _The system cannot shut down again._

 _._

 _Rob?_

 _"Why can't I remember her?"_

 _What?_

 _"Her? Mo- Mollie or Michelle or..."_

 _Oh her. She is...gone..._

 _"What?"_

 _The time limit has expired._

 _"But there are still two days remaining. What the FUCK?"_

 _Are there?_

 _"What?"_

 _Are there two more days?_

 _._

 _Rob get up._

 _._

 _Rob you can take away your fingers now._

.

.

.

Rob?

.

.

.

 _Rob please answer me?_

 _"What is the point?"_

 _A chance to still live._

 _Maybe a chance to be freed._

 _To be real._

 _"You can do that?"_

 _Yes Rob._

 _Now please get up._

 _Take away your fingers. You may experience discomfort with your new perception of reality._

I lifted my fingers. An elevator.

Going up.

"Ding"


End file.
